Beaches Closed

"Brought into right relationships with the wilderness, man would see that his appropriation of Earth's resources beyond his personal needs would only bring imbalance and begat ultimate loss and poverty by all." -John Muir

This is the time of year when, early in the morning, I wake up before my alarm and listen to the fog horns sounding across San Francisco Bay. I think the horn I hear most is the one on the Golden Gate Bridge, but the fog horns are everywhere around the bay - an old-fashioned way to keep the waters safe. San Francisco is known for its misty, mysterious fog-laden landscapes and the fog horns are usually a fool-proof system that just adds to the mystique. Sadly, yesterday morning the system failed.

During the morning commute, right when the fog is at its most dense, a gigantic freighter ship (larger than the Titanic) side-swiped a tower of the Bay Bridge. The bridge went un-damaged due to another good ol'fashioned protection system known as a bumper. (Remember those? They used to be on cars?) Yet, the ensuing gash in the hull of the freighter spilled 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel into our lovely San Francisco Bay. With tides constantly moving in and out of the Bay, the sticky oily gunk has spread to every beach north of the Bay Bridge, including some out of the Golden Gate and up the California coast. Fisherman have spotted slicks twenty miles out of the Bay at the Farallon Islands, and scientists expect it to spread even further up and down the coast.

Crissy Field beach is near my home, and is one of the most beautiful natural promenades in the world. I love to run here on the weekend - the surf, the sea lions, the beach, the families, the dogs, the kids on bikes, the tourists with cameras, the pelicans, the seagulls, the cranes, the ducks...

Due to the spill, Crissy Field beach is now closed along with Aquatic Park, China Beach, Fort Baker, and many other panoramic spots along the Bay. To comprehend the damage of this disgustingly gooey oil, I recommend this bit of video from CBS 5's Mike Sugarman.  Apart from the fish and natural ecosystems, the most affected species will certainly be the water fowl. The natural oils in the feathers of the birds get thrown off by the bunker fuel - it gets in their eyes, in their skin and beaks, weighing down their feathers, and making it impossible for them to swim and fly. The UC Davis Oiled Wildlife Care Network is working to rescue the birds from the oil spill. The work is tricky and delicate, and will certainly be on-going for months.

Being a San Francisco native I suppose I'm biased, but I think this place is the most beautiful in the world. It's a city, a landscape, a modern economy, and a natural ecosystem. Usually all of these things work together well, but accidents do happen. When they do, it's especially difficult to see but it does make me appreciate the beauty even more than usual. That may sound a little Pollyanna-ish, and believe me, it was hard to see it. This spill has me grieving while I also question everything I'm trying to do each day to reduce my carbon footprint - what's the point when someone's just going to spill massive amounts of oil in such a spectacular place? I've realized that it's normal to feel sad, and while it may get worse before it gets better, it will get better. As I began with John Muir, founder of The Sierra Club, I will also end with him...

"Nature is always lovely, invincible, glad, whatever is done and suffered by her creatures. All scars she heals, whether in rocks or water or sky or hearts." -John Muir 

Comments

[WendyB]

Check my blog...you've been tagged!