The response to the San Francisco oil spill by the Coast Guard is disappointing at best, and infuriating if you think about it too much. As of yesterday afternoon CA Fish and Game reported 577 dead birds, with nearly 2000 being treated. (Both of these totals are certainly higher by now.) Oiled birds have been seen on the Farallon Islands, and oil has made its way north to the beaches of Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that the Coast Guard is going to get a good trip to the wood shed over this. The bad news is that these whippins’ take time, and the Channel Islands community should be concerned now about the capabilities of the Coast Guard to respond to a spill here.

It can’t be said that these events aren’t well planned for. Spill response drills occur regularly, usually under the direction of the CA Department of Fish and Game Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR). There is a 55 page State Wildlife Response Plan produced by OSPR, and the Area Contingency Plans (ACP) for the Channel Islands include hundreds of identified sensitive sites and appropriate response directions for each.

But the ACPs are produced jointly by OSPR and the Coast Guard, with the Guard having initial responsibility for handling response coordination. (Hence the problem in San Francisco.) Perhaps if the Coast Guard is too busy with homeland security, the responsibility for initial response should instead go to the resource agencies (along with appropriate increases in funding).

In the short term, officials and biologists around the Channel Islands will need to be even more vigilant. An oil spill is probably inevitable here, and the capabilities of the Coast Guard to manage a large spill and protect natural resources is clearly in question. The Coast Guard is second to none at saving lives at sea, but protecting natural resources is fifth on their list of five missions. (Guarding our coasts from the hoards of sea-terrorists that are apparently arriving any day is second.)

So, best wishes, and good luck, to the OSPR folks and other managers in our area who may soon have a lot more on their petroleum plates.