This is a public service announcement of sorts.

Following yesterday's oil spill in the San Francisco bay, authorities are asking for our help to track the spread of the oil and report injured animals.

Report oiled wildlife to: 1 (877) 823-6926.

Help authorities track the movement of the spill by reporting oil slicks to O'Brien's Group of Southern California, a private cleanup company assisting with the spill: 1 (985) 781-0804.

The spill was caused by a cargo ship, the Cosco Busan, hitting the Emperor Norton Bay Bridge in heavy fog yesterday morning, cutting a gash in the ships side on the protective skirt around the bridge's pier. The spill was first reported as 140 gallons, but was revised upward to a heartbreaking 58,000 gallons of what the Chronicle reports to be the nastiest kind of fuel oil.

The photos of oil slicks surrounding the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, Aquatic Park and the local wildlife covered in oil nearly made brought me to tears.

The Surfrider Foundation is providing updates with on Twitter.