How Clean is Clean?

Cleanup officials have begun to tell us that their efforts are working and that our shorelines are clean. Yet we still see goopy oil along the shorelines and in our water, and distressed wildlife throughout the Bay. The San Francisco Bay's open water habitats, intertidal mudflats, rocky shores, salt ponds, and marshes all form the iconic waterway that defines the character and community of the Bay Area.

Baykeeper will not let the polluter off the hook when there is more work to be done. We need your help to document oil sightings in your area so that we can get contractors and volunteers out to clean up every drop of oil.

Leave us a comment here or send accounts and photos of what you see this weekend (what, how much, where, and when) to volunteer@baykeeper.org. Areas that are hard to see from flyovers or motor boats are of particular importance.

Training opportunity - finally!

Disaster Service Worker Volunteer Certification
Wednesday, November 14th
County Fair Building 9th & Lincoln in Golden Gate Park
6pm - 10pm

first come first served.

Ocean Beach Oil Spill Clean Up

No help found in Ft. Baker

No help found in Ft. Baker, account from Janelle Kellman

It's so hard to believe that something like this could happen in our backyard, under our watch. I went over to Ft. Kronkite and Rodeo Beach on Saturday to see how I could assist. Friends had ridden their bikes by the site earlier in the day, descending a dirt path down by the water, and had seen several birds stranded on the beach. When I finally arrived there Saturday afternoon in the pouring rain, the entire beach was cordoned off. There looked to be about 20 NRC workers in hazmat suits cleaning up the beach, but I could not get close enough to see any wildlife.
Unable to help there, we headed over to Ft. Baker to assess the damage. We walked past the marina, and over to the cliffs. There we saw a spotted gray seal bobbing out of the water, and streaks of oil being carried by the current close by. We looked directly down and saw several large jellyfish hugging the shore, and gobs of sticky looking oil floating almost right on top of them. We climbed one of the cliffs and saw a beautiful bird perched by himself, looking very nervous and disconcerted. He was entirely black. We hoped this was a black seabird, but knew we were wrong when he tried to fly. He flapped his wings maniacally, but only got about 1 foot above the water. He made an heroic effort, but ended up landing in a cove by the coast guard boats. We headed back over that way, gathering oil covered crabs that seagulls were attempting to eat, and saw the bird alone on the shore. He waded into the water and started squawking, obviously unhappy with his situation. He made it into the water, but couldn't get out. It was pouring by then, but I saw an NRC boat heading into shore. I ran over and yelled "can you please save a bird." I received a one word response: "no." The bird was 10 feet away from me. 10 feet away from coast guard boats, and along NRA land. Unbelievable. I saw 3 US Park Service rangers down the road, and I headed over to them. They were standing there, chatting. I asked them if we could save a bird that was dying in the cove, covered in oil. They asked me if I wanted a number to call. I told them no, I wanted them to save the bird. They said sorry, but we tried earlier but couldn't get close enough. I said well I bet you could now, he's dying. Thanks for the info ma'm I was told. Unbelievable.