(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-09 10:03

SAN FRANCISCO -- Oil leaking from a cargo ship that struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has spread throughout the bay and is threatening a majestic stretch of the California coastline, the Coast Guard said Thursday.

A beach at Crissy Field remains closed as crews with the Marine Spill Response Corp. position booms in San Francisco, Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007. Also in the background is the Golden Gate Bridge. Some 58,000 gallons of oil were spilled into the bay after a container ship hit a tower of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco Wednesday. [Agencies]

A hazy film of oil surrounded Alcatraz Island, and the plume extended well north and south of the Golden Gate Bridge. The heavy fuel has closed at least eight beaches. About a half-dozen birds were spotted alive and coated in oil, which has been washing up as far as 40 miles north of San Francisco.

About 58,000 gallons of oil spilled from the ship when it struck a tower supporting the bridge Wednesday morning in dense fog. The accident caused no structural damage to the span, officials said, but the vessel's hull suffered a large gash. The ship has since anchored in the bay.

"By our guidelines it is a medium-sized spill. But in the San Francisco Bay Area, that is a big deal," said Coast Guard Capt. William Uberti, captain of the Port of San Francisco and the chief federal officer heading up the investigation and response. "This is a very environmentally sensitive area, so it's of great concern."

The petroleum was bunker fuel -- a heavy fuel that is the residue from oil refining and contains many contaminants, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Melissa Hauck.

Crews aboard two helicopters surveyed the damage as eight skimmers sucked up the oil on the bay and ocean. Teams also walked the shoreline assessing and scooping up the oil, authorities said.

Some 8,000 gallons of fuel was recovered, and the Coast Guard said it had placed 18,000 feet of booms by Thursday morning.

"We can't stop everything, but we're going to do our best," Uberti said. During his own survey aboard a boat, Uberti said he had observed "a sheen with small little globules -- something that's not too difficult to clean up."

Scientists were assessing the best cleanup techniques and the environmental impact on the coastline, which ranges from beaches to marshes to barren cliffs.

"The number one problem is the floating oil that continues to move around the bay at the whim of the current and the winds," said Barry McFarley, the incident commander of the private recovery firm the O'Brien Group, which was assisting in the cleanup.

The vessel is called the Cosco Busan. Cosco is the Chinese government-owned China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co.

Coast Guard officials were still working to nail down the ship's precise destination; it was laden with containerized freight and apparently bound for Asia.

The pilot of the ship was being interviewed by Coast Guard authorities. If he's to have acted negligently or recklessly, he could close his state's pilot license.