Deepwater Horizon oil spill closes in on US coastline

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 Clumps of oil are seen in the waters off of Chandeleur Sound, May 3, 2010. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP Clumps of oil are seen in the waters off of Chandeleur Sound, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP 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 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 Workers place oil containment booms around in the central marshes in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. Monday, May 3, 2010. Photograph: Eric Gay/AP Workers place oil containment booms around in the central marshes in St. Bernard Parish, May 3, 2010. Photograph: Eric Gay/AP 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Photograph: MODIS/guardian.co.uk Birds fly over the oil slick near Breton Sound Island in the Gulf of Mexico, south of Louisiana, 29 April. Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters Photograph: Sean Gardner/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Petty Officer 3rd Class Cory J. Mendenhall/HO/guardian.co.uk Oil containment booms circle Breton Island as part of ongoing operations to contain the spill, 1 May. Photograph: Paul Buck/EPA Photograph: Paul Buck/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Gerald Herbert/guardian.co.uk Birds at the Breton Island sanctuary, 30 April. Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Mark Ralston/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Alex Brandon/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Nick de la Torre/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Carlos Barria/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Chris Graythen/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Alex Brandon/guardian.co.uk Colonies of brown pelicans, gulls and terns in the Breton Sound, 1 May Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP Photograph: Gerald Herbert/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Gerald Herbert/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Charles Dharapak/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Saul Loeb/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Stan Honda/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Dave Martin/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Carlos Barria/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Dave Martin/guardian.co.uk The fragile wetlands of the Mississippi River, which are in the path of spreading oil Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Mark Ralston/guardian.co.uk A coyote at the edge of a marsh near Bayou Pete, a tributary of Breton Sound, 2 May Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP Photograph: Gerald Herbert/guardian.co.uk An egret eyes an alligator in the Mississippi wetlands Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Mark Ralston/guardian.co.uk