Planting fish eggs to monitor oil spill

Scientists from Bodega Marine Lab are planting herring eggs this week in parts of San Francisco Bay to monitor the affects on fish from the November 2007 bunker fuel spill.

The eggs are being placed in areas hard hit by the spill: Richardson Bay, Horseshoe Cove near Fort Baker and the north side of Angel Island. The eggs will be studied to see what sort of pollution shows up in the embryos.

The spill dumped over 50,000 gallons of the toxic crude into the San Francisco Bay four months ago when the Cosco Busan container ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy fog. Only 44% of the oil has been recovered. At least 2,500 birds died in the spill.

See: Marin IJ story: Herring roe will help judge spill’s impact