On Friday, I ventured down to South Orange County to observe the cleanup efforts. The southern part of Laguna Beach, Three Arch Bay showed no visible oil impact so far. There were several fly-bys of Coast Guard and other aircrafts, probably watching the drift of the oil. Just a bit north on Pacific Coast Highway at Aliso Beach, a cleanup crew was scouring the waterline and sand for oil damage. I spoke to both the crew and the lifeguard and fortunately, they were able to clean up general trash but didn’t find much, if any, oil debris. A two person team from an animal rescue organization was patrolling the beach as well. While it appears that Huntington Beach and Newport Beach have had the most impact, there are reports of oil as far south as San Diego. Much of the oil is reportedly still in the slick off the coast so the impact on particular beaches is probably dependent on wind direction and currents. Fortunately, Laguna Beach sand areas were opened that same day. Water is still off limits.