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Pelicans Coated In Oil After California Spill

Pelicans Coated In Oil After California Spill

Dead fish and oil-covered pelicans have been discovered after an oil spill off the coast of California.

The early toll on wildlife is still being assessed after up to 105,000 gallons of oil leaked from a ruptured pipeline.

More than 9,000 gallons have been mopped up from the spill that stretches across 9 miles (15km) of coast just northwest of Santa Barbara.

It is feared 21,000 gallons of the sticky crude that escaped from the pipeline has reached the sea.

So far, five oil-covered pelicans have been found, along with dead fish and crustaceans along sandy beaches and rocky shores.

The spill occurred along a rustic coast that forms the northern boundary of the Santa Barbara Channel, home to a rich array of sea life.

Whales, dolphins, sea lions, seals, sea otters and birds use the waters between the mainland and the Channel Islands.

Five of those islands are a national park surrounded by a national marine sanctuary.

Workers in protective suits shovelled black sludge off beaches, and boats towed booms into place to corral two oil slicks.

The number of clean-up workers surpassed 300, and the number of boats working the slicks rose to 18, officials said.

Federal regulators were investigating the cause of the leak and the pipe's condition.

The coastline was the scene of a much larger spill in 1969 that is credited with giving rise to the American environmental movement.