Huntington Beach High Could Change Its Mascot, "Oil Man," After Orange County's Oil Spill.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — "Thank you for calling the Huntington Beach High School, home of the Oilers!" the voicemail of the school said.

That school spirit message is now a sad reminder of closed beaches, oiled animals onshore and the now forever closed Elly drilling platform off the coast, once a favorite local scuba diving spot.

People must keep out of the water amid the 144,000-gallon oil spill covering the coastline.

Huntington Beach High School's logo is an oil derrick. The school's mascot is known as "Oil Man." How hard is it to cheer for the Oilers during the worst oil spill in Orange County's recent history? Locals near and far are asking the question, according to a recent report from Gizmodo.

Five days into Orange County's most recent disastrous oil spill, there is much blame to go around. A deep dive by Gizmodo asked whether the local high school should change its mascot in the wake of the disaster.

Both the derrick logo and the Oil Man mascot show how closely tied the beach community is to the oil rigs off the coast and oil production facilities nearby.

The people who work on the rigs and in the energy industry, in general, live in and around Long Beach, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, officials have said. Many of the workers worry about their livelihoods. More still are concerned for the ocean waters they love to surf and the animals who live there, all affected by the oil spill.

The boy's water polo team meets against Newport Harbor at Corona del Mar Wednesday in a show of school spirit. But alumnus Jeremy Deaton asked on Twitter: Should the school change its mascot?

For Deaton, the memory of his high school mascot is no longer the source of pride reflected in the phone message by the perky school operator.

A spill "was bound to happen at some point," Deaton wrote on Twitter. "But it's still shocking and horrifying."

After all, it's happened before. In 1990, a more significant oil spill wrecked the shoreline with about 300,000 gallons more oil than is currently fouling the shores of Huntington Beach.

But some Huntington Beach residents argued that there's a lot to celebrate about the oil industry in town. The idea of changing the mascot is "absolutely absurd," Kimo Gandall said in Facebook's Huntington Beach Community Forum.

Still, Nicholas Nemirsky disagreed with Gandall and supported a name change suggested by Dharna Noor and Deaton.

"Great idea! Change to something that represents less harm to the environment, but still maintains the culture of the city," Nemirsky said. "Something along the line of surfing would be a good start."

Some endorsed Nemirsky's idea while others pooh-poohed it.

"I think changing names in an attempt to be less offensive is never appropriate," Barry Ehrreich said. "It is what it is. Move on."

The administrator of the group turned off comments, though the question and responses remained for all community members to consider.

This is not the first time a school in Orange County has changed its mascot. In 2017, Anaheim Savanna High School made a move away from their "Rebel" mascot. The rebranding of that school cost $51,000 according to the district at that time, but veering from the confederate "Johnny Rebel" mascot was priceless to some.

More recently, Saddleback College renamed their mascot, dropping the Gaucho in favor of the Bobcats. The school's staff, alumnae and students endured a months-long debate before the new mascot was selected.

Should Huntington Beach High School consider changing its mascot? Or leave it be?

TONIGHT! Surf League’s HBHS Boys water polo match up w/ Newport Harbor @ Corona Del Mar HS. 5:10pm. Come fill the stands. We’ve got spirit, YES we do! Go Oilers!!!! @HB_OilerSports @HBOilers pic.twitter.com/TE1S46611f
— HBHSABC (@HBHSAQUATICS) October 6, 2021

Meanwhile, we're rooting for the water polo team.