Apex Houston; Santa Cruz, California

Santa Cruz, California | 1986-Feb-02

Initial Notification: On February 2, 1986, a California State park ranger notified the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office (MSO), Alameda, that approximately 80 oiled birds had come ashore between Monterey and Point Ano Nuevo in the previous few hours. Coast Guard Group Monterey requested the Coast Guard MSO to perform an overflight of the area in an attempt to locate the source of the oil spill. The overflight located a ribbon of oil, 50 meters wide and approximately one nautical mile long, off Point Ano Nuevo, with five-foot wide and six-foot long mats of oil observed 15 miles further north. USCG district 11.