Refugio Beach Oil Spill Wildlife Observations from May 21, 2015

NOAA documented wildlife observations in the marine environment following a 21,000-gallon oil spill near Refugio State Beach, California, on May 19, 2015. This layer specifically captures observations from May 21, 2015, at 1400 hours during a second survey flight. The data is provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Response and Restoration.

Use Cases

• Map the spatial distribution of affected wildlife based on the described observation area.
• Assess the immediate environmental impact of the oil spill based on the described wildlife observations.
• Support restoration planning and compensation calculations based on the described environmental degradation.
• Analyze hazards management and mitigation strategies for coastal oil spills based on the described incident.

Strengths

• Data is tied to a specific, documented environmental incident with a known date (May 19, 2015) and volume (21,000 gallons).
• Observations are from a defined time (May 21, 2015 @ 1400 hours) and location (Refugio Beach Oil Spill area).
• Provided by an authoritative source, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect temporal and geographic bias inherent to a single survey flight.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely contains aerial survey observations from a second flight.

Time Range

May 21, — 2015

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:24:22.578749; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Refugio Beach Oil Spill area, Santa Barbara County, California, Pacific Ocean