A container ship has hit a span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge on Wednesday morning, damaging the 900-foot container carrier Cosco Busan, allowing 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel to spill into the bay. This was the largest oil spill in San Francisco Bay in the last decade.

Even if the collision has not damaged the bridge, the oil spill has spread as far south as Hunters Point, east of Treasure Island and Angel Island, up through Raccoon Straits and Brook Island along the San Francisco city waterfront and past the Golden Gate Bridge as far north as Tennessee Point in Marin County, according to the investigators that have conducted over flights.

Despite the fact that the Marine Spill Response Corporation and the National Response Center have declared that 8.000 gallons of the oil have been recovered, the incident might have a fatal effect on the life forms in the bay, such as birds, fish, ducks or mice, for the next several years, since the oil might stay hidden under the rocks or in the deep sediments and soil of the bay.

Scientists say that the incident is similar to the last big oil spill in the bay, which occurred in 1996, when the cargo ship Cape Mohican has spilled 40.000 gallons of heavy fuel oil into the bay. The oil has spread along the coast, from the Candlestick Point to the Golden Gate, touching Angel and Alcatraz islands.

Both the oil spills have contaminated mudflats and beaches, but the long-term effects of the last one are still unknown.

Some of its oil is already heading to the ocean, threatening sea life. Also, since the oil now lies off in the center of the bay, it puts the Central Valley Chinook salmon at risk, during its journey, heading toward the Sacramento and Feather rivers. Herring is expected to enter the bay in order to spawn in December.

Until then, shorebirds are coming to spend the winter in the bay, while Public Health Officials have declared that people who were living or working near the bay area have experienced nausea and headaches, due to the oil vapors.

Moreover, several beaches are closed to the public, due to potential health concerns.

Around 21 surf scoters have been saved and treated, as they were affected by the oil spill, according to the California Oiled Wildlife Care Network.