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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment

Deepwater Horizon oil spill closes in on US coastline

Deepwater Horizon : Massive Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
In this radar image, acquired from Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) on 2 May 2010 03:45 UTC (Saturday night local time), the oil spill is visible due east of the Delta National Wildlife Refuge extending into the Gulf of Mexico. The white dots are oil rigs and ships. Radar is especially suited for detecting oil spills because it works day and night, can see through clouds (unlike optical sensors) and is particularly sensitive to the smoother water surface caused by the oil. Photograph: Envisat/ESA
Deepwater Horizon : Massive Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
Clumps of oil are seen in the waters off of Chandeleur Sound, May 3, 2010. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Deepwater Horizon : Massive Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
Clumps of oil are seen in the waters off of Chandeleur Sound, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Deepwater Horizon : Massive Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
A Portuguese Man-o-War is seen in clumps of oil in the waters in Chandeleur Sound, La., Monday, May 3, 2010. Fish and wildlife are vulnerable to the oil spill resulting from the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Deepwater Horizon : Massive Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
A seagull flies through the air as concern grows that animal and sea life will be damaged by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on May 2, 2010 in Drum Bay, Louisiana. Oil is still leaking out of the Deepwater Horizon wellhead at a estimated rate of 1,000-5,000 barrels a day. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Deepwater Horizon : Massive Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
Workers place oil containment booms around in the central marshes in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. Monday, May 3, 2010. Photograph: Eric Gay/AP
Deepwater Horizon : Massive Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
Workers place oil containment booms around in the central marshes in St. Bernard Parish, May 3, 2010. Photograph: Eric Gay/AP
Deepwater Horizon : Massive Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
Workers lay down an oil boom as the effort continues to try and keep the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from washing ashore on May 3, 2010 in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Oil is still leaking out of the Deepwater Horizon wellhead at an estimated rate of 1,000-5,000 barrels a day. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Deepwater Horizon : Massive Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
A duck prepares to land on a dam in the marsh in Venice, Louisiana, USA 03 May 2010. Leaking oil from the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico threatens the ecosystem of all states on the Gulf. The Deepwater Horizon well exploded on 20 April. Photograph: Paul Buck/EPA
Deepwater Horizon : Massive Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
A brown pelican is seen flying in the Breton Sound of the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana Monday, May 3, 2010. Wildlife are vulnerable to the oil spill resulting from the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP
Deepwater Horizon : Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast : the Pollution Control Dome
A welder at work on a piece from the Pollution Control Dome (behind) being built by steelworkers at the Martin Terminal worksite in Port Fourchon, as BP rushes to cap the source of the oil slick from the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster in Louisiana, on May 3, 2010. Using remote-controlled submarines to shut off the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is like doing "open heart surgery at 5,000 feet in the dark," the head of BP's US operations said. BP America Chairman and President Lamar McKay acknowledged that the oil gushing from the fractured well nearly a mile (1,500 meters) below the ocean surface was due to a defective equipment designed to shut down the well in a blowout. Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
Deepwater Horizon : Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast : the Pollution Control Dome
View of the the Pollution Control Dome being built by steelworkers at the Martin Terminal worksite in Port Fourchon, as BP rushes to cap the source of the oil slick from the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster in Louisiana, on May 3, 2010. Using remote-controlled submarines to shut off the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is like doing "open heart surgery at 5,000 feet in the dark," the head of BP's US operations said. BP America Chairman and President Lamar McKay acknowledged that the oil gushing from the fractured well nearly a mile (1,500 meters) below the ocean surface was due to a defective equipment designed to shut down the well in a blowout. Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
Deepwater Horizon : Oil spill : BP CEO Anthony Hayward At Dep't Of Interior
BP CEO Anthony Hayward gets into a waiting car after leaving the U.S. Department of the Interior May 3, 2010 in Washington, DC. Hayward and other BP executives were meeting with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and others about the recent deepwater oil rig explosion and subsequent leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Satelitte view of the oil spill from Deepwater Horizon oil rig oil spill
A massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico continues to spread on 29 April, moving close to the US coastline. The coast guard attempted controlled burns on the oil to prevent its spread, but had to halt the operation owing to high winds. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has built a dome-and-pipe system to contain the spread of oil on the sea floor.
Photograph: MODIS/NASA
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Birds fly over oil spill,  Chandeleur Islands in the Gulf of Mexico
Birds fly over the oil slick near Breton Sound Island in the Gulf of Mexico, south of Louisiana, 29 April.
Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Preventive measures being made to keep Gulf oil spill away from coastlines
Rear Admiral Mary Landry, the US government's on the scene co-ordinator for the Deepwater Horizon incident, speakis with the US secretary of the interior, Ken Salazar, during an aerial survey of the Gulf Coast, 30 April. Efforts to stop the flow of oil and minimise is environmental and economic impact have been underway since the leak began last month.
Photograph: Petty Officer 3rd Class Cory J. Mendenhall/HO/EPA
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill affects Louisiana Gulf Coast
Oil containment booms circle Breton Island as part of ongoing operations to contain the spill, 1 May.
Photograph: Paul Buck/EPA
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill affects wildlife: dolphins surface, Gulf of Mexico
Gas wells cause the sea to bubble as dolphins surface in the Breton Sound off the coast of Louisiana, 1 May.
Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill affects wildlife: Birds at the Breton Island sanctuary
Birds at the Breton Island sanctuary, 30 April.
Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: oil spill affects wildlife: Tri-State Bird Rescue
The Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research group's Dr Erica Miller, right, and Danene Birtell help a Northern Gannet bird on 30 April.
Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: oil spill : Technical experts in a conference room at BP offices in Houston
Technical experts crowd a conference room at BP offices in Houston, Texas, 2 May. The oil firm has established a crisis centre in Houston. The head of its US operations described the use of remote-controlled submarines to shut off the well like doing "open heart surgery at 5,000ft in the dark".
Photograph: Nick de la Torre/AP
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill : A television crew reports , south of Venice, Louisiana
A television crew reports next to twisted oil booms on the coast of South Pass, Louisiana, 2 May. Oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead threatens an environmental catastrophe.
Photograph: Carlos Barria/REUTERS
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Massive Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
JT Thonn holds aloft shrimp at Schaefer & Rusich Seafood in New Orleans, 1 May. Commercial and recreational fishing have been suspended east of the Mississippi River.
Photograph: Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: oil spill affects wildlife: Tri-State Bird Rescue
Fishermen, oil field workers and others prepare for hazardous materials training at the Boothville-Venice school in Boothville, Louisiana, 30 April
Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill affects wildlife: brown pelicans and sea gulls, Gulf of Mexico
Colonies of brown pelicans, gulls and terns in the Breton Sound, 1 May
Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Fishermen ready to sign up to help lay oil booms
Volunteers wait at Shell Beach, Louisiana, 1 May, to sign up to help lay oil booms, which can be seen on a trailer in the background
Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Barack Obama, Bobby Jindal, Thad Allen, John Brennan
Barack Obama listens to Louisiana's governor, Bobby Jindal, after an inspection of the spill. Behind them are US coast guard commandant, Admiral Thad Allen, and homeland security adviser John Brennan
Photograph: Charles Dharapak/AP
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill : US President Barack Obama looks at a map
Obama looks at a map during a briefing with officials at the coast guard station at Venice, Louisiana, 2 May
Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill : Men position a bouy on board a boat with
Men position a buoy on a boat carrying oil boom barriers at Gulfport, Mississippi, 1 May. The booms from US navy will be used to help protect two islands off the Mississippi coast
Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: oil spill affects wildlife: dead sea turtle lies on the beach
A dead sea turtle on the beach at Pass Christian, Mississippi, 2 May. Researchers from the Institute of Marine Mammal Sciences Studies at Gulfport have collected a number of dead turtles, which will be examined to determine the cause of death
Photograph: Dave Martin/AP
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill affects wildlife:
Andrew Nyman, left, associate professor of wetland wildlife management and ecology at Louisiana State University, and Randy Lanctot, director of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, collect samples at South Pass, Louisiana, 2 May
Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill affects wildlife :  A least tern checks her two eggs, Gulfport
A least tern (Sternula antillarum) protects its eggs on a beach in Gulfport, 1 May. Least terns were once plentiful on the shores of Biloxi, Mississippi - now only 2,000 terns remain and the oil threatens their breeding season
Photograph: Dave Martin/AP
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill affects wildlife : Mississippi River
The fragile wetlands of the Mississippi River, which are in the path of spreading oil
Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill affects wildlife: A coyote peers from marsh, Breton Sound Out
A coyote at the edge of a marsh near Bayou Pete, a tributary of Breton Sound, 2 May
Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP
Deepwater Horizon oil rig: Oil spill affects wildlife : A Heron and an Alligator, Mississippi River
An egret eyes an alligator in the Mississippi wetlands
Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
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