and 7 a pumping zone follows the flexible skimming head and in this case dual pumps 108 are provided to remove oil from the skimmer head in fig7 it is apparent that oil layer 109 thickens below pump entrance 110 and is removed by means of piping 111 and passed into a settling storage zone composed of a bag or membrane containing both water and oil the membrane is enclosed by a harness 112 which attaches the membrane to the skimmer at the forward end of the membrane is provided a flow deflector 113 which keeps current forces from interfering with the function of the membrane water exits from the membrane at outlet 114 while oil 115 collects at the top of the membrane and is removed therefrom to an additional storage bag or membrane 116 via line 117 which storage membrane may be detached when full although the embodiment of fig6 and 7 is shown as if constructed primarily of metal it could also be constructed using air and water filled fabric where practical such as in the flotation 104 to facilitate air transport for use in tanker spills with reference to the floating flexible chevron skimmer head 107 as depicted in fig8 with a single suction area there is provided a flexible submerged foraminous sheet 118 atop which is positioned foam floats 119 in a chevron.