Update 11-9-2007 (morning)

Here is a Friday update on the Bay oil spill and what you can do. (More than 50,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil went loose in the Bay after container ship, the COSCO BUSAN, struck a pier of the San Francisco Bay Bridge at 8:30 AM on Wednesday, November 7.)

The East Bay remains less affected than many areas, but there are smelly slicks and globules from at least Oakland to Point Richmond. As of Friday morning, oil does not appear to have spread into the most sensitive mud flat areas on the East Bay, but many beaches are closed, including Keller Beach and Albany Beach. There are scattered oiled birds, mostly scoters, grebes, goldeneyes, and other diving birds.

Here is what you can do:
1. To report what may be new oil coming ashore or large slicks offshore without booms, call the state Office of Emergency Services, 1 800 852 7550. They will report to local agencies.

2. Document oil slick, globules, oiled animals, etc. with notes, photos, and videos. Eelgrass, oysters, fish etc. matter, as well as birds. Agencies that will want these include NOAA (natalie.c-manning@noaa.gov), Save the Bay (mlatta@savesfbay.org); Baykeeper (sara@baykeeper.org); very likely others such as the Regional Water Quality Control Board, US EPA, and us (Friends of Five Creeks). For now, hang onto your pictures, keep notes on when and where they were taken, please tell me, and please be patient -- all these folks are going to be swamped

3. Report oiled birds to 1 877 823 6926. Do not approach oiled animals -- they may injure you, and the oil is toxic. Do not call this number of volunteer. Report oiled LIVE mammals to the Marine Mammal Center, 415 464 5170. Report oiled DEAD mammals to the California Academy of Sciences, 415 289 7325

4. Check the Oiled Wildlife Care Network website, www.owcn.org, to see whether volunteers are needed. Email www.baykeeper.org to get on a list of help with cleanup if and when volunteers are needed.

FOR FRIDAY AFTERNOON ONLY: There MAY be a use for drivers to transport oiled birds from Berkeley to care centers in the North Bay; between noon and sunset check at 510 693 7628.