Photo: Mario Tama/Getty

A person stands near oil washed up on Huntington State Beach after a 126,000-gallon oil spill from an offshore oil platform on October 3, 2021 in Huntington Beach, California.

A massive oil spill off the coast of Southern California continues to wash onto the shores of Huntington Beach, killing wildlife including marine life birds.

The oil spill was first reported to the U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday, the organization confirmed in atweet. About 3,000 barrels — or approximately 126,000 gallons — of oil spilled off the California coast, prompting Huntington Beach officials to close the area as clean-up efforts begin.

The cause of the major oil spill remains unknown.

The city of Huntington Beach announced in apress releasethat the Coast Guard “is the lead agency coordinating the response into the spill incident, and the investigation into how the spill occurred.”

On Monday,officials confirmedthat Beta Offshore, a California subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy Corporation, is responsible for the oil spill and is working closely to assist in clean-up efforts.

Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty

An oil slick lines the beach as Huntington Beach lifeguards keep people out of the water while cleanup boat crews put booms around the oil at the scene of a major oil spill washing ashore in Huntington Beach Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021.

Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley released a statement on the oil spill’s"irreversable" damageto the environment.

“The ramifications will extend further than the visible oil and odor that our residents are dealing with at the moment. The impact to the environment is irreversible,” she said in a release.

“You can’t get wildlife back that are killed in this process, and some of the habitat the plant species, they’re going to be impacted for years to come,” she added,ABC Newsreported.

DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty

Workers in boats try to clean up floating oil near gulls in the Talbert Marshlands as a 3,000-barrel oil spill, about 126,000 gallons, from an offshore oil rig reaches the shore and sensitive wildlife habitats in Newport Beach, California on October 3, 2021.

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This aerial picture taken on October 3, 2021 shows oil and an oil containment boom in the water of the Talbert Marshlands area from an offshore oil rig as it reaches the shore and sensitive wildlife habitats in Newport Beach, California.

Foley also urged locals on social media tostay 50 ft. awayin order to avoid clusters of oil on the shore. Orange County health officials also urged people torefrain from recreational activitiesnear the coast and seek medical attention if they come in contact with oil.

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach is planning to triage oiled marine animals, Krysta Higuchi, public and community relations manager for the center, told theLos Angeles Times.

​​"We’re not entirely sure of the magnitude just yet. It’s definitely an all hands on deck kind of situation. We are trained for it, but it’s training you never want to have to use," Higuchi told the outlet. “We usually see the marine mammals a couple of days to a couple of weeks after an event.”

Sefa Degirmenci/Anadolu Agency via Getty

A warning sign is posted near oil washed up on Huntington State Beach after a 126,000-gallon oil spill from an offshore oil platform on October 3, 2021 in Huntington Beach, California.

Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr called the spill an “environmental catastrophe” and a “potential ecological disaster,” according toCNN.

Carr noted on Sunday that the closures could last anywhere “from a few weeks to a few months.”

source: people.com