Hi, my name is David Myer. I am co-owner of Alafab, Incorporated, a fabrication and machine shop in Mobile, Alabama. I am a local living on Dauphin Island, Alabama, and have a solution for cleaning up the tar balls and light oil sheen in shallow waters.

I have invented a shallow water oil skimmer, a very simple oil skimmer, thus the name "S O S".

This skimmer is made and sold in eight foot panels, that easily connect together to make between eight foot and thirty-two foot wide skimmers.

The SOS has an inclined front panel made from expanded metal, dropping off in a basket in the rear with a tall back screen. Depending on the size of the tar balls, a smaller screen insert is available. This section has removable aluminum trays that are ideal when collecting tar balls where crane or pump out services are not available.

It also comes with a wood fiber absorbent sock in place of the aluminum baskets. The idea here is to capture any light oil or sheen in shallow waters or marshes. Once the absorbent sock is saturated with oil, it is simply removed and disposed of.

This 3rd option is the same design except the back is completely removed. A disposable capture net having very fine mesh is attached to the back of the frame, and as it's being pulled, everything in its path is funneled through the net. Once full, it is tied up and completely discarded-therefore, no need for decontamination.

Each panel is very easy to manage - a small boat could easily take 24 feet of skimmer right from the dock to where the tar balls are.

Each panel is very easy to connect and disconnect while floating - there are no loose parts.

A 24 ft wide section easily being pulled by a 14 ft aluminum boat with a 15 horsepower motor, which is great for skimming water around 12" deep.

Since I now have a patent pending on this idea, building a heavier offshore version with a taller back, capable of handling 3 to 4 foot seas would be easy.

The SOS skimmers are totally maintenance free. All pipes are filled with flotation foam, and all steel is hot dipped galvanized.

Our shop could easily build 150 eight foot skimmers in a week, maybe more. The SOS skimmers are very inexpensive. Please call me, David, at 251-895-0010 for more information. Or email me at dmyer101@gmail.com