PHOTOS: Massive oil spill off California coast shows impact on wildlife, beachside communities
Crews on the water and on shore worked feverishly to limit environmental damage from one of the largest oil spills in recent California history.
People said they noticed an oil sheen and smell of petroleum Friday evening, but it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon that the Coast Guard said an oil slick had been spotted.
Amplify Energy CEO Martyn Willsher said Sunday that divers were still trying to determine exactly where the leak occurred in its underwater Southern California pipeline. The pipeline and three oil platforms it serves have been shut down.
In an aerial view, shorebirds feed amid oil contaminating Huntington State Beach after a 126,000-gallon oil spill from an offshore oil platform on October 4, 2021 in Huntington Beach, California. The spill forced the closure of the popular Great Paci
A no-swimming sign stands in Huntington Beach after closure from a huge oil spill off the coast. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Photos show patches of oil coating the sand, signs warning people to stay off the beach and cleanup contractors in white outfits using skimmers and barriers to try to contain and clean the spill.
The oil will likely continue to wash up on the shore in several communities for days, officials said. Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said the city’s beaches could remain closed for weeks or even months.
The area affected by the latest spill is home to threatened and endangered species, including a plump shorebird called the snowy plover, the California least tern and humpback whales.
A bird eats a dead fish on the beach after an oil spill in the Pacific Ocean in Huntington Beach, California on October 4, 2021. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
An aerial view of booms placed to help stop the oil from spreading further into the Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. Cleanup crews began cleaning up the damage from a major oil spill off the Orange County coast that left crude
A worker in a protective suit cleans oil in the Talbert Marsh wetlands after a 126,000-gallon oil spill from an offshore oil platform on October 4, 2021 in Huntington Beach, California. The spill forced the closure of the popular Great Pacific Airsho
Oil lines a sand berm and water, forming globules, foam and sheen that flowed in from high tide and was held back by a sand berm and boom as a major oil spill washes ashore on the border of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach at the Santa Ana River Je
Workers with Patriot Environmental Services mop up oil at Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach, CA on Monday, October 4, 2021. Officials continued working to contain at least 126,000 gallons of oil believed to have leaked from a broken pipeline connecte
Dr. Duane Tom, of Oiled Wildlife Care Network, UC Davis, inspects an oiled Sanderling shorebird at the Wildlife & Wetlands Center in Huntington Beach Monday, Oct. 4, 2021 in Huntington Beach, CA Cleanup crews began cleaning up the damage from
An aerial view of a storm rolling in as low tide reveals oil on the beach while cleanup crews clean up oil in the sand from a major oil spill on Huntington State Beach in Huntington Beach Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. Cleanup crews began cleaning up the the
Cleanup crews spread out across the beach as they begin cleaning up oil in the sand from a major oil spill on Huntington State Beach in Huntington Beach Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Heavy machinery builds a sand berm, blocking any more oil coming into the Talbert Channel, where there are several absorption booms that helps stop the flow into the ecologically sensitive Talbert Marsh as a major oil spill washes ashore at Huntingto
Workers with Patriot Environmental Services clean up oil that flowed into the Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. Authorities said 126,000 gallons of oil leaked from the offshore oil rig Elly on Saturday. (Myung J. Chun / Los A
A person stands near oil washed up on Huntington State Beach after a 126,000-gallon oil spill from an offshore oil platform on October 3, 2021 in Huntington Beach, California. The spill forced the closure of the popular Great Pacific Airshow with aut
Signs and tape close off the beach where oil from a 126,000-gallon spill from an offshore rig washed up on Huntington State Beach near the mouth of the Santa Ana River in Huntington Beach on Sunday, October 3, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews
Oil is seen on the beach in Huntington Beach, California on October 3, 2021, after a pipeline breach connected to an oil rig off shore started leaking oil, according to an Orange County Supervisor. - pollution (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP / Gett
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 03: Oil is washed up on Huntington State Beach after a 126,000-gallon oil spill from an offshore oil platform on October 3, 2021 in Huntington Beach, California. The spill forced the closure of the popular Great