Oiled Birds; Eastern Santa Barbara Channel, CA

Eastern Santa Barbara Channel, CA | 2005-Jan-13

Initial Notification: On THU, 13JAN, MSO Los Angeles/Long Beach reported numerous oiled birds washing ashore in the Ventura Harbor area for the previous 2 days. By FRI afternoon, 4 wildlife recovery teams had observed 500 oiled birds and collected 200-300 oiled birds, of which 5 were dead. No oil has been observed on the beaches during early wildlife surveys, though unusually large amounts of debris have been noted. An overflight of the Ventura Harbor area observed large patches of brown, floating material heavily strewn with debris.