Photos: Updated Gulf of Mexico oil spill

 

A giant oil slick threatens to pollute the fragile wetlands of Louisiana, as officials warned that toxic crude was pouring from a ruptured well into the Gulf of Mexico five times faster than previously thought.

 
May 11, 2010
 
 
 
May 11, 2010 - How big is the oil slick today in the Gulf of Mexico? About this big. This map of Vancouver and the region has been overlayed with a to-scale shape of the surface oil slick that is pouring out of a BP deep sea oil well. The oil started spilling in the ocean after a drilling accident inlate April resulted in an explosion on the rig that killed 11 people. Efforts to stop the flow of oil have so far failed.
 

May 11, 2010 - How big is the oil slick today in the Gulf of Mexico? About this big. This map of Vancouver and the region has been overlayed with a to-scale shape of the surface oil slick that is pouring out of a BP deep sea oil well. The oil started spilling in the ocean after a drilling accident inlate April resulted in an explosion on the rig that killed 11 people. Efforts to stop the flow of oil have so far failed.

Photograph by: Google Earth screengrab, Vancouver Sun files

 
May 11, 2010 - How big is the oil slick today in the Gulf of Mexico? About this big. This map of Vancouver and the region has been overlayed with a to-scale shape of the surface oil slick that is pouring out of a BP deep sea oil well. The oil started spilling in the ocean after a drilling accident inlate April resulted in an explosion on the rig that killed 11 people. Efforts to stop the flow of oil have so far failed.
Louisiana National Guard Private Dallas Bacon guides a dump truck using dirt to create an earthen barrier as they try to protect an estuary from the massive oil spill in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, May 10. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by BP is leaking an estimated rate of 1,000-5,000 barrels of o
Louisiana National Guard work on creating an earthen barrier to protect an estuary from the massive oil spill on May 10 in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by BP is leaking an estimated rate of 1,000-5,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf and the slick has now reached ne
LaClean-up crews (top) comb the beach on Dauphin Island, Alabama May 10, 2010 two days after tar balls washed up onshore. Oil workers, volunteers and the military have been battling to shut off a gushing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and stop the huge spreading slick from reaching major ports, tourist bea
A boat heads towards the Gulf as work continues to try to contain the massive oil spill on May 9, 2010 in Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by BP is leaking an estimated 5,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf and the slick has now reached nearby land. Efforts to contain the spill, inc
A man hold a plastic bag with oil from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill south of Freemason Island, Louisiana May 7, 2010. BP Plc engineers using undersea robots maneuvered a massive metal chamber to fit over a gushing ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday in their best chance yet to contain a leak t
BP, run by CEO Anthony Hayward, took a political gamble by becoming the first major oil company to publicly acknowledge global warming and announce plans to become a more sustainable energy company.
Crews work to collect oil near the location where the Deepwater Horizon oil platform sank in the Gulf of Mexico.
Oil is seen on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico as BP tries to stop oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico 55 miles (89 km) south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana May 8, 2010.
Shrimp boats sit in the Venice Marina after the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Secretary Robert Barham announced that the shrimp season in the territorial seas of the central coast of Louisiana from Four Bayou Pass to Freshwater Bayou were closed effective sunset Saturday due to the D
Three year-old Morgan Edmonds plays in the surf as a clean-up crew combs the beach on Dauphin Island, Alabama on May 10, 2010, two days after tar balls washed up onshore. Oil workers, volunteers and the military have been battling to shut off a gushing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and stop the huge spread
A crane flies along the beach on Dauphin Island, Alabama, May 9. Oil workers, volunteers and the military have been battling to shut off a gushing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and stop the huge spreading slick from reaching major ports, tourist beaches, wildlife refuges and fishing grounds.
An aerial view of the oil leaked from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead, May 6, 2010. Oil from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico sloshed ashore on a chain of islands off the Louisiana coast.
Crewmen aboard the motor vessel Joe Griffin look on as the mobile offshore drilling unit Q4000 lowers a pollution containment chamber into the Gulf of Mexico over the site of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill May 6, 2010. The chamber is designed to cap the oil discharge that was a result of the Deepwater H
The mobile offshore drilling unit Q4000 lowers a pollution containment chamber into the Gulf of Mexico over the site of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill May 6, 2010.
Oil from the massive spill is seen on the surface of the water in Breton and Chandeleur sounds off the coast of Louisiana.
BP contractors deploy an oil containment boom around West Ship Island, to contain an oil spill off the coast of Gulfport, Mississippi May 6, 2010. BP engineers prepared to start lowering a 98-ton metal chamber over a ruptured undersea oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday as officials confirmed the fi
The M/V Joe Griffin carries a cofferdam built for BP Plc as it leaves Port Fourchon, Louisiana, U.S., on Wednesday, May 5, 2010. The containment dome will be used to collect crude oil leaking from the BP's damaged Deepwater Horizon oil rig well, which sank on April 20. Oil has been gushing at a rate of more
The hearings will examine whether Canada has adequate laws and regulations to prevent an economic and environmental disaster on the scale of the recent oil spill at BP operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
This aerial view, released by Greenpeace on May 6, 2010, shows the drilling relief well, (bottom) on the deck of the ship with the containment structure that will be used to try to stop the leak from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead.
Seagulls gather on the beach as concern continues that the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may harm animals in its path on May 5 in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Gathered concentrated oil burns during a controlled oil fire in the Gulf of Mexico May 5, 2010. The U.S. Coast Guard working in partnership with BP PLC, local residents, and other federal agencies conducted the burn to aid in preventing the spread of oil following the April 20 explosion on Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Deepwater Horizon. Picture taken May 5, 2010.
BP contractors deploy an oil containment boom around West Ship Island, to contain an oil spill off the coast of Gulfport, Mississippi May 6, 2010. BP engineers prepared to start lowering a 98-ton metal chamber over a ruptured undersea oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday as officials confirmed the first oil landfall from the spill on a Louisiana island beach. Ship Island is part of the Gulf Island National Seashore and part of the U.S. Park Service.
A shrimp boat takes part in a cleaning operation for oil leaked from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead, east of the mouth of the Mississippi river, near the coast of Louisiana in this picture taken and released May 5, 2010.
Workers stand next to oil booms after reaching the coast of South Pass, south of Venice, Louisiana, as oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continues to spread in the Gulf of Mexico May 5, 2010.
May 5: Pelicans sit on pilings along the Dauphin Island Parkway, Alabama May 5, 2010. A flotilla of boats tackled a massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, taking advantage of calm weather to intensify the fight to reduce the spill and limit its impact on the U.S. shoreline.
A platform is surrounded by the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead at the mouth of the Mississippi river May 5, 2010.
An aerial view of oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead approaching the coast of the Louisiana East of the mouth of the Mississippi river May 5, 2010.
A platform is surrounded by the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead at the mouth of the Mississippi river May 5, 2010.
An aerial view of oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead approaching the coast of the Louisiana East of the mouth of the Mississippi river May 5, 2010.
An oiled brown pelican which was captured on a barrier island off the fragile Louisiana coast on is cleaned at a triage center in Fort Jackson, Louisiana.
Megan Broadway (L) and Wendy Hatchett from the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies pick up a dead sea turtle from the beach as concern continues that the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may harm animals in its path on May 3, 2010 in Pass Christian, Mississippi. It is unknown if the turtle died due to the oil spill.
A worker helps clean the beach of debris as it is prepared for possible contamination from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on May 3, 2010 in Pass Christian, Mississippi.
A dead fish is seen on the side of a road in Venice, Louisiana May 3, 2010.
A television reporter stands beside oil booms at the coast of South Pass, south of Venice, Louisiana, as oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continues to spread in the Gulf of Mexico, May 2, 2010.
Andrew Nyman, Associate Professor Wetland Wildlife Management & Ecology of LSU AgCenter, collects samples of beach sand beside oil booms at the coast of South Pass, south of Venice, Louisiana, as oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continues to spread in the Gulf of Mexico, May 2, 2010.
Handout photo provided by Greenpeace on April 30, 2010 shows a boat laying out oil booms along Port East in the Gulf of Mexico, south of Louisiana, where oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continued to spread on April 29, 2010.
Men work on board a boat with oil boom barriers from the U.S. Navy that is expected to stop the spread of oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster May 1, 2010 at the main port in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Oil booms are seen near the coast of South Pass, south of Venice, Louisiana, where oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continues to spread in the Gulf of Mexico, May 1, 2010.
A dead fish lies on the beach, as concern continues for the creatures that are in the path of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on May 3, 2010 in Biloxi, Mississippi.
 
 
 
 
 

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