We visited Kirby Cove on 23 November, three weeks after the Cosco Busan struck the Bay Bridge on 7 November. There was some oil on the west end of the beach, but otherwise it looked clean. Some of the shallower tidepool areas looked scoured of life, but I’m not certain of that without checking earlier photos. Deeper tidepool areas (we were there right at an exceptionally low -1.7 meter tide) still had plenty of anemones, feather boa kelp, and other organisms. The spill happened at neap tide, so the lowest tidal areas probably escaped exposure to the oil.

Kirby Cove lies west of the Golden Gate bridge on the north (Marin) side of the strait. One can see downtown San Francisco, the San Francisco Bay, the entire length of the northern, strait facing shore of San Francisco, and the Pacific ocean from it. It is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and as such is managed by the National Park Service.

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