Gallery • 6 Photos

Bert Atkinson

How much of this bird's food is covered in tar and oil?

On Thursday, May 21, 2015 a pipe, located on the shore of Santa Barbara Beach, filled with oil leaked out gallons of it into the ocean. 100,000 gallons of oil leaked out of the pipe because it was “well below its maximum operating capacity” states CNN. The pipe was below its usual rate of transporting oil by a large amount because while 2,000 gallons per hour was supposed to be transported only 1,300 gallons were. The picture shown is of oil spill bubbles that were created 25 South of where the oil spill occurred. Santa Barbara is a wonderful place that many people will visit over the summer but will this oil spill affect the amount of people that will go?

Santa Barbara Beach welcomes many visitors every summer because of the many activities to do around the beach such as surfing and walking on the sandy beach. Workers and Volunteers are helping to  clean up the ocean before summer, but there are many spots filled with oil all around the beach that it may take them more time to clean. This beach is a veteran to another oil spill that occurred at Santa Barbara in 1969, where almost 100,000 barrels of oil, spilled into the ocean’s channel leaving the ocean contaminated. Santa Barbara beach is a wonderful place to go with your family but the oil spill that occurred last Thursday may be harsh for the summer visitors. The upside to this spill is that the pipe wasn’t filled all the way with oil, which means that the oil spill could have been much worse than it is right now. If Santa Barbara wants to be ready for the summer then people should go help and clean the waters before summer begins.

For more Information:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/21/us/california-oil-spill/index.html