Sorry for the recent slew of posts about oil spills, but it’s a pretty big story in the news, and the current Black Sea spill and others help to put the SF Bay spill in perspective. (see Google News articles on the Black Sea Oil Spill). I’ll post some local news later today to make up for it. The photo to the right and accompanying article are from the AP News.

Last Sunday, a huge storm covering the Azov and Black Sea region between Ukraine and Russia sank or ran aground at least 11 ships. BBC News reported that “the Russian oil tanker Volganeft-139 came apart after it was smashed by 108km/h (67 mph) winds and 5m (16ft) waves in the narrow Kerch Strait between Russia and Ukraine”. The tanker leaked 560,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil into the straight. Another cargo ship sank spilling 7,150 tons of sulfur, which can’t be good.

Up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) of Russian coastline are affected, and environmental organizations are reporting a high estimate of 30,000 dead birds… compared to hundreds for the recent Bay Area spill. Yet even the Black Sea spill is small in comparison the Prestige disaster off Spain five years ago. Severe habitat damage was caused to beaches in Spain, France and Portugal when a tanker leaked 64,000 tons - that’s close to 18 million gallons - of fuel oil in November 2002.

From a Moscow Times article:

“This problem may take a few years to solve. Fuel oil is a heavy substance and it is now sinking to the seabed,” said Mitvol, deputy head of the Natural Resources Ministry’s environmental watchdog, said on Vesti-24. “This is a very serious environmental disaster.”

The good news is, as countries begin to develop technologies for alternative sources of sustainable energy, the need to transport via pipeline or ship these vast amounts of oil will slowly decrease. It’s entirely possible that one day in the future, oil tankers will all be scrapped and recycled as countries become energy independent and the only need for energy trade will be the knowledge required to reproduce the technology.

“I touched the delta tower,” he told the traffic service, which monitors ship movements in and out of the bay. It may have been the understatement of the year.

A quick update on the SF Bay oil spill:

SFGate.com is still providing good coverage of what is going on - the cleanup will take weeks and there will be a grand jury investigation, many people have volunteered, and more details are being revealed about the ship’s course.

Crab fishing season has been delayed as well in the bay area, I just hope Hog Island’s oysters are okay.

The SF Gate is calling this the worst Bay Area oil spill in more than a decade - which means it’s happened before, and it will probably happen again, as long as our addiction to oil keeps those tankers coming in. The Google Map to the right links to a live mash-up with photos of the affected areas around the bay, and check out the SF Gate and other links below for more on the developing story.

McNertney’s bird was one of 18 oil-soaked scoters and other birds plucked alive off Rodeo Beach Thursday. At least seven others were found dead. It was one of the worst-hit areas. The coastline along the Marin Headlands was caked with great gobs of goo, forcing closures of Horseshoe Cove at Fort Baker, Tennessee Valley Cove and Rodeo Beach.

More video, photos, and news coverage at SF Gate.

Photo gallery here.

As it turns out, the organization helping with the bird rescue effort is UC Davis’ own Oiled Wildlife Care Network. They will post a hotline for volunteers sometime today and I’ll update that on this blog.

UPDATE 10:42am 11/7/07 - Press release: UC Davis Leads Oiled-bird Rescue in San Francisco. Also, the Oiled Wildlife Care Network has set up a volunteer votline at (800) 228-4544. I will be calling later today to see if I can help out this weekend.