BAY AREA (BCN) -- Crews are continuing to clean up oil that spilled from a  tanker into the San Francisco Bay last week, resulting in the closure of  several local beaches in the Alameda area and the deaths of at least a dozen  birds.

California Department of Fish and Game spokeswoman Carol Singleton  said contractors hired by the owners of the Panamanian-flagged tanker Dubai  Star have finished skimming oil off the surface of the water.

An aerial assessment was conducted Monday and no sheen was seen on  the Bay, although oil is still visible on some shorelines, Singleton said.

The contractor still has 36,000 feet of boom in place and about  140 workers performing cleanup, including removing tar from beaches,  Singleton said.

"They're getting to the point where they're scooping up tiny  tarballs," she said.

The Dubai Star leaked between 400 and 800 gallons of oil into the  Bay two miles south of the Bay Bridge early Friday morning when a mechanical  failure occurred during a bunkering operation with a fuel barge.

The area most affected was the East Bay shoreline between the Bay  Bridge and the San Mateo Bridge, particularly the Alameda area. Several  beaches remain closed today, including Robert Crown Memorial State Beach and  Middle Harbor Shoreline Park.

"It's all been contained to the shoreline of Alameda County,"  Singleton said.

Fishing and shellfish harvesting have been suspended along that  shoreline until further notice, she said.

Three more dead birds were found Monday, bringing the number of  birds killed by the oil spill to at least 14, Singleton said. An additional  34 oiled birds are being treated at the San Francisco Oiled Wildlife Care and  Education Center in Cordelia.

Anyone who spots an oiled animal should call (877) 823-6926.
 
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