Endangered turtles injured by the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster – in pictures

Oil sits atop the ocean while oil burns in the background Photograph: NOAA

An oil-covered Kemp's Ridley turtle is retrieved Photograph: NOAA

Dr Brian Stacy cleans an oiled Kemp's Ridley turtle. Vets and scientists from organisations such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission are capturing heavily oiled young turtles 20 to 40 miles offshore, as part of ongoing animal rescue and rehabilitation operations Photograph: NOAA

An oiled Kemp's Ridley turtle, which was cleaned, given veterinary care, and taken to the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans (NOAA) Photograph: NOAA

Efforts continue to assess the condition of these endangered sea turtles and capture those in heavy oil Photograph: NOAA

A close-up of a thickly oiled Kemp's Ridley turtle Photograph: NOAA

In the Deepwater Horizon disaster, about 4.9m barrels of oil leaked into the sea around the Gulf of Mexico Photograph: NOAA

“While the White House was trying to keep the emphasis on rosy stories of rescued animals being released back into the wild, they were sitting on these images of garbage bags full of Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles,” says Greenpeace Photograph: NOAA

A dead Kemp's Ridley turtle Photograph: NOAA

Another dead sea turtle lies on a beach Photograph: NOAA

Staff at the Audubon Aquatic centre nurse a sea turtle back to health Photograph: NOAA

And finally, the turtle emerges clean and oil-free Photograph: NOAA