The Deepwater Horizon disaster has been confirmed by the latest US government estimates as the largest marine oil leak ever. More than 750,000 liters of crude oil leaked daily from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig of British Petroleum BP in the Gulf of Mexico spread to nearly 200 km to the Mississippi estuary, threatening the Louisiana mangrove ecosystem, along the Gulf of Mexico.
The Deepwater Horizon rig worth US $ 560 million burned violently after the explosion of the oil well on April 20, 2010. This incident killed 11 people, and two days later, the rig sank into the sea.
Smoke rising from the oil-covered sea surface is being burned by the cleaning team in the area near the DH rig. It is estimated that an amount of oil equivalent to 5 million barrels has spilled into the sea; making this oil spill into the world's largest oil spill ever.
The losses and effects of the oil spill on the region's ecology are inconceivable for a long time to come.
A priest is attempting to save a pelicans stained by brown oil (Queen Bess Island, La.) He said " The life of the creatures is being drained ." This lucky peasant has been saved.
A shrimp swimming among dark brown oil seeds. Eggs and larvae of shrimps, crabs, fish - key products of the local economy - will suffer long-term and unpredictable effects.
Bottled dolphins swim under the oil-contaminated waters of Chandeleur Sound, La. Very few of these dolphins are rescued and taken to clean water because their weight is quite large (1 adult dolphin weighs more than 270kg).
The fishing area of these fishermen is blocked after the incident, they are participating in a cleaning and handling skill training course organized by BP company in Bernard, La. Parish, and bowed their heads. pray when a pastor chants scriptures.
Before the disaster, a travel slogan at Orange Beach, Alabama wrote: "Mix 2 parts of white sand and 1 part of blue seawater". After the incident, the oil completely destroyed that formula.
A sample of water was taken at a depth of nearly 11m at 2 months after the oil spill. In this sample there is a large amount of copepods, and many of them have been dyed brown.
At a depth of about 18m is a floor with very little life due to lack of oxygen.
Oil on a grassy swamp near Myrtle Crove, La., Oil-filled (once white) oil pipes were originally placed by cleaning teams at the water's edge, now being hit by the waves.
The body of an oil-covered sea turtle lies idly between Barataria Bay and La. More than 500 individuals of dead turtles in the oil spill area. As of August 2, 134 turtle eggs were brought to the area without oil contamination, and 2,134 individuals hatched from these eggs.
These workers are collecting oil sack bags near a bird sanctuary in Barataria Bay, La. By the end of July, the collection teams have collected nearly 40,000 tons of solid waste.
A biologist is saving an oil-colored pelican off the coast of Queen Bess. The bird will be taken to a recovery center and cleaned for oil, and then released in a safer place.
A large amount of oil spills into the swamp in Louisiana. BP has put orange and yellow wire tubes to collect oil spills and white wire tubes to absorb oil.
A blue crab is covered by a layer of crude in Grand Isle State Park, La.
These workers are using white cloths to clean the oil on the grass in the swamp in the tammany, La parish. Using rags to wipe about 7 million stems of grass can be ' crazy ', but it helps provide data to assess the area's oil contamination level and provide oil samples for other tests.
The young pelicans with brown oil are huddling on Cat Island - an island located at the westernmost point of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.
A wave hit the Gulf coast, Alabama 2 months after the oil spill. Over time, the amount of oil left in the sand or sediment gradually floats to the surface.
Fire burns oil and methane gas from BP's rig, just above the oil well.