Nothing says welcome to the beach more than a bunch of huge white signs that tell you to stay out of the water—NOT.
Yet, that’s exactly what tens of thousands of visitors to San Francisco have been greeted with the past few days. The signs went up shortly after a cargo ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and dumped 58,000 gallons of oil in San Francisco Bay. The spill—-the largest of its kind in nearly two decades—-happened last week and since then business owners have been scrambling to assure out-of-town visitors that the City by the Bay is still welcoming tourist.
California’s governor imposed a temporary ban on all fishing in areas affected by last week’s oil spill. As such visitors to San Francisco’s famed Fisherman’s Wharf have been biding their time by snapping pictures of hordes of fishermen repairing nets by their idled boats and wondering if it was really safe to order crab for dinner. According to city leaders, most seafood sold at Fisherman’s Wharf is caught far offshore so the crabs sitting on ice in storefront displays are safe to eat, though, according to some restaurant owners, some tourists weren’t taking any chances.
And who can blame them? The crab season had been scheduled to begin Thursday, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recently delayed opening day until December 1st, or when fish and game officials decide it’s safe. Can you imagine how the news has affected restaurants that planned to serve fresh seafood to millions of Thanksgiving visitors?
And then there is the city’s famous sea lion population. I have about 15 minutes of video of the barking blubber-filled marine animals that I shot during my last visit to San Francisco. The animals, who love to perch themselves on the rocks lining Fisherman’s Wharf, are a tourist attraction in and of themselves. Thankfully, word has it that they have largely avoided exposure to the oil. However, it’s hard to imagine that they were completely spared when watch TV news reports that show dark, patchy slicks of oil in the water and teams in yellow hazmat suits shoving globs of oil and sand into plastic bags.
If you plan to visit the city in the next week or so know that all local beaches have signs posted warning not to enter the water. CNN ran a story the other day that featured a family who ignored the signs. The mother allowed her kids to swim at Ocean Beach and not surprisingly they emerged from the water with oil stains on their skin. When the TV reporter asked the mom why she would allow her children to enter the water she replied that they had never seen the ocean before and she wanted them to have fun. (Yeah, have fun getting the oil off their skin.)
Fort Point, another popular tourist attraction located under the Golden Gate Bridge, also remains closed because of the oil cleanup. The California State Park Service also temporarily closed Angel Island and canceled all public ferry service to that popular hiking and biking destination. And over the weekend, the spill forced organizers of the San Francisco Triathlon to cut out the swim and make it a biathlon. The move affected about 900 athletes, including dozens hoping to gain points to qualify for the Olympic Games. On a brighter note, as of today, all ferries traveling through the oil slick waters to and from Alcatraz were operating on schedule.
Are you planning to visit San Francisco for Thanksgiving?
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