If much of the crowd watches from boats and the beach, then the mess and potential hazards probably justify the action. Having said that, oil is both variably volatile and organic and what does not evaporate is reasonably rapidly decomposed by microbes. CA has a history of natural shoreline oil seeps that are largely controlled and managed by the same entities that are being blamed here. Listen folks, there is no free lunch. You all want to fill your tanks with aviation fuel and it has to come from somewhere. Land and undersea pipelines are constantly being damaged by human errors, just like this one, and it could be the straw that breaks the environmental camel’s back in CA that is the largest petroleum market in the US, and filled with the most environmental lunatics as well. These are the same people who complain that CA’s fuel prices are very high and higher than anywhere else in the US. Most of us require access to various petroleum products and have no recourse or power in addressing the issues. We are hostages but some of us know that we absolutely require petroleum pipelines and are willing to deal with the risks. More avian wildlife is killed by windmills than the occasional oil spill.