Community Comes Together to Assess Orange County Oil Spill Impact

Earlier this month, an estimated 25,000 gallons of crude oil from a ruptured pipeline impacted the coastal waters of Orange County, California. We let you know that we shared your concern about the oil spill and that we needed your support to ensure that we would be able to conduct the required assessments and garner the necessary information to help local reefs recover from any negative impacts this spill could have on the region’s important kelp forest communities. 

Thanks to your support, we will mobilize our highly skilled volunteer team to conduct surveys at six kelp forest sites this weekend. Luckily, it looks like this spill might not have been as bad as initially feared. After our divers have had the chance to re-survey our Orange County sites, we will update you with what we learn about the post-spill effects on these fragile ecosystems.

With endless gratitude, we thank each of you- our divers and supporters-  for making this possible. It’s a testament to the strength of the Reef Check community to be able to organize and respond to these emergencies so quickly.