The oily mess of tarballs that washed up on Northern California beaches earlier this week is “natural seepage” from the ocean floor and not remnants from the Cosco Busan oil spill, the Coast Guard said Wednesday. When oil started showing up on beaches from Pacifica to Monterey on Monday, speculation was it might be uncollected … Read more
Direct from Patagonia, Jay Holcomb, IBRRC’s Executive Director, sent this latest update on the Argentina oil spill response: Today we finished washing most of the birds accept about 8 of the last penguins. We also washed the 4 new oiled cormorants and 5 rewash cormorants that still had wet underwings meaning that they likely have … Read more
Jay Holcomb, IBRRC’s Executive Director, who is in Argentina, sent this update from Patagonia oil spill response this evening: We established today as a big major penguin washing day so that we can wrap this spill up. With water issues and other problems we have only been able to wash a total of 25 or … Read more
The first bunch of grebes cleaned of oil at the Patagonia mystery spill in Argentina were released this week. In all, 14 Great Grebes were set free into the wild. At least 50 volunteers showed up to celebrate the release. They have been working with the IBRRC/IFAW response team to help remove the oil from … Read more
There’s high anxiety along the English Channel this week after a cargo ship carrying 313 tons of fuel oil sank in high seas. The 328-foot vessel was carrying lumber from Scandinavia to Egypt. Environmentalists fear that if the oil leaks from the ship’s tanks, which is nearly 100,000 gallons in US measurements, it could have … Read more
What are the long term affects to marine environments after oil spills? Scientists from Spain hope that the blood of Yellow-legged gulls will give them a better picture. Researchers measured the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) levels in the gulls exposed to oil during the aftermath of the 2002 Prestige oil spill off the coast of … Read more
Update from Barbara Callahan, who is helping manage the oil spill response in Patagonia, Argentina: After a long and difficult two days, the second wave of team members, including Jay Holcomb and Michelle Bellizzi from IBRRC in California, finally on the ground after arriving at almost midnight Thursday night. The team doesn’t have luggage but … Read more
Chased by lawsuits, the Cosco Busan ship that side-swiped the San Francisco Bay Bridge, finally headed back to South Korea. The ship sailed out of San Francisco on a crsytal clear day on Thursday morning. Numerous lawsuits will follow the owners of the ship, including a big lawsuit filed by the city of San Francisco. … Read more
At least six weeks after the Cosco Busan oil spill struck San Francisco Bay, the popular beaches at Angel Island will reopen on Saturday. The reopening is with an asterisk. State officials are warning visitors there still may be tar balls of oil remaining on the island beaches. The same oil killed thousands of birds … Read more
An environmental chemist looking into the rush to ban the use of bunker fuel on ships, says the alternatives, especially diesel can be harder to cleanup. Christopher Reddy’s Open Forum piece in the San Francisco Chronicle and is worth a careful read: “…Bunker oil is highly viscous, sticky, and floats. Bunker oil spills are visually … Read more