San Jose Mercury News: An endangered blue whale spouts last month near offshore oil rigs off the coast of Long Beach. A statewide poll finds a slim majority supports offshore oil, up sharply from 39 percent support in 2003. It’s been nearly 40 years since an offshore oil well malfunctioned, polluting beaches in and around Santa Barbara, a playground for the rich and famous. But the images of oil-coated birds and other effects of the spill have continued to make expansion of oil drilling off the coast a …