Tisbury police and fire officials closed a section of the Steamship Authority parking lot following a small diesel fuel spill Wednesday morning. Fire chief John Schilling said he received a call from the Steamship Authority at 6:17 a.m. Wednesday alerting him that a truck had spilled fuel.

The Oak Bluffs harbor is closed to shellfishing until further notice following a minor oil spill Wednesday morning.

A 50-foot tuna-fishing boat has taken on water, causing leach of oil into the harbor, town officials said.

After receiving a call around 7:50 a.m. Wednesday morning reporting a fuel smell and a sheen on the water, shellfish constable David Grunden notified the fire department, which dispatched their oil recovery team to the boat tied up at Church’s Pier, by Nancy’s Restaurant.

It was a perfect day to be on the water last Wednesday in Menemsha; there was little wind and the sun was shining as the commercial and recreational harbor began to get under way for the summer season. But what if one of those boats had an accident and oil began to cascade into the inner harbor, or worse, if a large tanker had an incident out in Buzzards Bay?

With both scenarios real possibilities, Islanders prepared an emergency response plan in the event of an oil spill.

Six weeks ago, as the oil giant BP sought to rehabilitate its reputation after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the company announced it would put $500 million into scientific research into the effects of the spill. Now, it appears that money may not be forthcoming.

And that has thrown into disarray plans involving the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), as well as other scientific organizations looking to study the long-term consequences of the blow-out of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.