I wonder if that's what the helecopters were doing this morning. I saw 2 hovering over what looked like either the Southshore Center or the beach. I couldn't tell at the time.

hmm... I just watched the video... it doesn't look like the area I saw the helecopters at.

Here is the text:

www.ktvu.com/news/16637449/detail.html

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- A popular Alameda beach was temporarily closed by the East Bay Regional Park District Tuesday after oil was reported on the shore and sticky tar balls were found along the stretch of beach.

A three-quarter mile stretch of Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda remains closed. It was around 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon when windsurfers offshore began reporting oil on their wet suits and boards.

Shortly afterward, tar balls began washing up onto the beach. The Coast Guard described the globs as dime to half dollar in size containing fresh and runny oil.

Clean-up crews quickly responded and posted area closed signs. The sunny, warm weather attracted a number of people to the beach. Many were upset with what happened.

"Anytime you hear about an oil spill -- especially here in the Bay -- it's just unsettling. You don't like to hear things like that," said Fremont resident Warren Wiesnoski.

A special environmental response team descended on the beach and cleaned up whatever oil they could find. The Coast Guard reports there is definite oil sheen offshore and samples are being taken to determine a possible origin.

The experts are saying the oil is not natural seepage from the ocean floor. The Park District said the source of the oil is not yet known but did say there have been recent reports of bunker oil in other locations nearby that could be left over from the Nov. 7 Cosco Busan spill.

But the Coast Guard says it could be several days before the source is tracked down, if ever.

"We don't know where it came from. We don't have a real good idea of the amount. It's not a consistent ribbon of oil," explained Coast Guard Petty Officer Kevin Neff.

State Fish and Game has a boat off shore with a boom, but so far they have found no injured wildlife. If anyone finds oiled birds, they are advised to leave them alone and call the Oil Wildlife Care Network at 877-823-6926. A team will be dispatched to pick up the animal.

"Anytime oil gets into the water in California's environment, it's not a mild event. It's a big deal. The Department of Fish and Game responds fully," said State Fish & Game Lt. Brian Arnold.

One beachgoer says the spill is just another reminder how fragile the environment is.

"It's so incumbent upon us to be very aware of how we can upset the balance. I hope whoever is at fault here realizes that and that I hope it wasn't a deliberate act of any kind," said Alameda resident Elaine Teune.

East Bay Regional Park officials say crown beach will remain closed through Wednesday. An assessment will be made then if the beach will be reopened.