The effects of Monday's oil spill in the harbour are beginning to be noticed further away, as Todd Ranson discovered on Friday.

He was fishing on the Two Mile, directly north of the harbour entrance, when he noticed a couple of grubby red billed gulls.

Two oily gulls at the Two Mile. Photo: Todd Ranson. Nikon coolpix waterproof camera.

Meanwhile DOC staff say they have been checking on wildlife at key sites including Bridge Marina daily.

The Bridge Marina took the brunt of the spill, being directly south of the Mount Maunganui wharf, when the incoming tide and 30knot winds brought the oil out from under the wharf on Monday morning.

The leak has been traced to a pair of 6mm holes in a spur line off the main bunker line that is attached to the underside of the wharf.

It's not known how long the oil poured into the harbour before it was noticed, or at this stage how much was lost.

Oil was swept into the Bridge Marina and a separate stream was blown up the harbour under the harbour bridges as far as Maungatapu.

The Regional Council on scene commander Jim Tetlow, says a number of lightly oiled shags, gulls and penguins have been observed but so far only one penguin and two shags have required capture and treatment for oiling.

Seventeen bags of oily waste were removed from in the marina on Thursday.

'Our first priority has been to clean up the bay around the haul-out area and steam clean the haul-out facility before boat and further marina cleaning can proceed,” says Jim.

'This is now largely complete and some boats are scheduled for haul out and cleaning today. Boat movement will re-mobilise some oil in the marina so absorbent pads, cleaning equipment and staff from Bay of Plenty Regional Council & Mobil staff are being deployed on-site as needed to manage that.”