Cleanup efforts off the western coast have intensified every day since Friday's spill, which sent 66,000 barrels of crude oil gushing into the ocean after a tanker was struck by a wayward barge.

About 8,800 people - including volunteers, local residents, civil servants, police and military personnel - were working on the region's shores today to clean up the oil. Coast Guard personnel, sailors and fishermen worked aboard 138 ships and five helicopters offshore, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

Crude oil from the spill started washing ashore Saturday onto the region's picturesque beaches, about 150 km southwest of Seoul. Residents used shovels and buckets to clean up the muck.

Officials said today they were considering declaring the site a "special disaster area," which would open the way for direct aid to the battered region that regularly drew millions of tourists to its natural beauty.

The spill itself has already been declared a "disaster", enabling regional governments to more easily mobilise personnel, equipment and material.

At Shinduri Beach, several mallard ducks could be seen hovering over the oil-coated waters neither diving for fish nor finding anywhere to land.