(Courtesy of Tom's email)
Based on recently revised estimates, BP's ruptured oil well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico continues to leak 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil a day. The new figures suggest that an amount of oil equivalent to the Exxon Valdez disaster could still be flowing into the Gulf of Mexico every 8 to 10 days. Despite apparent efforts to restrict journalists from accessing affected areas, stories, video and photographs continue to emerge. Collected here are recent photographs of oil-affected wildlife, people and shorelines around the Gulf of Mexico on this, the 51st day after the initial explosion.
Oil covered brown pelicans found off the Louisiana coast and affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico wait in a holding pen for cleaning at the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, Louisiana, June 9, 2010.
An American Egret takes flight from an oil-impacted marsh along the Louisiana coast Monday, June, 7, 2010.
Sheila Clark, widow of Donald Clark who was killed in the April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, listens as U.S. Senator Charles Schumer speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill June 10, 2010 in Washington, DC. Family members of the 11 victims of the explosion called on the Senate to ensure that the oil and drilling companies are held responsible for the tragedy.
A hard hat from an oil worker lies in oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana June 8, 2010.
The feet of Rebecca Thomasson, of Knoxville, Tennessee are covered in oil after walking along the beach as oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill washes ashore in Gulf Shores, Alabama on June 4, 2010.
A helicopter flies over livestock with sandbags, Tuesday, June 8, 2010 in Buras, Louisiana. Efforts to protect the area from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill continue.
A worker walks past a fountain of sand from a dredge as it is pumped onto East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana to provide a barrier against the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Tuesday, June 8, 2010.
Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill pools against the Louisiana coast along Barataria Bay Tuesday, June 8, 2010.
APTN photographer Rich Matthews dives into the water to take a closer look at oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill on June 7, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico south of Venice, Louisiana.
Patches of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill are seen from an underwater vantage, Monday, June 7, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico south of Venice, Louisiana.
A sea turtle is mired in oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Grand Terre Island, Louisiana June 8, 2010.
Oil slicks move toward the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Saturday, June 5, 2010. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster has started washing ashore on the Alabama and Florida coast beaches.
Clumps of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill splash in the surf on a beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama on June 4, 2010.
Oil sheen is seen streaking under the Perdido Pass Bridge from the spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the Alabama coast as viewed from a Coast Guard HC-144A plane Thursday, June 10, 2010 in Perdido, Alabama.
An exhausted oil-covered brown pelican tries to climb over an oil containment boom along Queen Bess Island Pelican Rookery, 3 miles northeast of Grand Isle, Louisiana June 5, 2010. Wildlife experts are working to rescue birds from the rookery which has been affected by BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and transporting them to the Fort Jackson Rehabilitation Center.
A bird rescue team captures an oiled pelican for cleaning on Cat Island in Barataria Bay June 6, 2010 near Grand Isle, Louisiana.
Tim Kimmel of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service carries an pelican covered in oil from a nesting area to a waiting boat in Barataria Bay, Louisiana June 5, 2010. The pelican was successfully transported to a stabilization center on Grand Isle, Louisiana before being taken to the Fort Jackson Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at Venice, Louisiana for cleaning.
Brown Pelicans, covered in oil from BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, huddle together in a cage at the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Buras, Louisiana June 6, 2010.
Workers clean a Brown Pelican covered in oil at a rescue center at a facility set up by the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Buras, Louisiana on Saturday, June 5, 2010.
Members of the media photograph volunteers as they clean oil covered pelicans found off the Louisiana coast at the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, Louisiana, June 9, 2010.
A volunteer uses a toothbrush to clean an oil covered white pelican found off the Louisiana coast at the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, Louisiana, June 9, 2010.
Volunteer Cassen Pulaski cleans an oiled Brown Pelican at a rescue center at a facility in Fort Jackson, Louisiana June 7, 2010. Two hundred and ninety two birds have been brought to the center over a six week period. Eighty-six have been brought in on Sunday. These birds are being rescued and transported to the Fort Jackson Rehabilitation Center by well-trained and knowledgeable wildlife responders, veterinarians, biologists and wildlife rehabilitators.
Brown pelicans recently cleaned of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill are seen in a holding area at the International Bird Rescue Research Center Tuesday, June 8, 2010 in Buras, Louisiana.
A worker uses a suction hose to remove oil that has washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon spill, Sunday, June 6, 2010 in Grand Isle, Louisiana.
A suction hose is used to remove oil washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon spill, Wednesday, June 9, 2010, in Belle Terre, Louisiana .
Ed and Lucy Waltz of Leroy, Illinois, walk to the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Monday, June 7, 2010.
Marine reef ecologist Scott Porter works to remove oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill from his hands on Monday, June 7, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico south of Venice, Louisiana.
This image from high resolution video made June 3, 2010, and provided by BP PLC Wednesday morning, June 9, 2010, shows oil continuing to pour out at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.
A controlled burn of oil from the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill sends towers of fire hundreds of feet into the air over the Gulf of Mexico June 9.
NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, June 10th, 2010 and the satellite's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured this image of the thickest part of the oil slick. In the image, the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico is positioned in sunglint. In the sunglint region - where the mirror-like reflection of the Sun gets blurred into a wide, bright silvery-gray strip - differences in the texture of the water surface may be enhanced. In the thickest part of the slick, oil smooths the water, making it a better "mirror." Areas where thick oil cover the water are nearly white in this image. Additional oil may also be present. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Gas is flared off on the Discovery Enterprise drilling ship which is collecting oil at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast Wednesday, June 9, 2010.
Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill coats marsh grass at the Louisiana coast along Barataria Bay Tuesday, June 8, 2010.
A brown pelican coated in heavy oil wallows in the surf June 4, 2010 on East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana.
An oiled brown pelican tries to take flight from Barataria Bay while oil slicks float past June 6, 2010 near Grand Isle, Louisiana.
Oil absorbent booms lie coiled together near Queen Bess Island as clean up operations of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill continue in off the coast of Louisiana Tuesday, June 8, 2010.
A dead young egret covered in oil from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead is turned over to wildlife rescue team near Bird Island in Barataria Bay, Louisiana just off the Gulf of Mexico June 7, 2010.
A dead turtle floats on a pool of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in Barataria Bay off the coast of Louisiana Monday, June, 7, 2010.
Unidentified BP contract workers remove oil related material on Santa Rosa Island, Florida on Wednesday June 9, 2010.
Hermit crabs struggle to cross a patch of oil from the the Deepwater Horizon spill on a barrier island near East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana on Sunday, June 6, 2010.
An oiled White Ibis is seen at an unnamed island in Barataria Bay off the coast of Louisiana Tuesday, June 8, 2010.
Streaks of oil sheens are seen north of the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the Alabama coast as viewed from a Coast Guard HC-144A plane Thursday, June 10, 2010.
