Shocking Oil Spill Scenes
As the president visits the Gulf anew, Richard Wolffe reports that he was first briefed in April on how bad the spill would be. Plus: the real reason the White House is so mad at Carville.
Charlie Riedel / AP Photo
A small dead fish floats on a pool of oil at Bay Long off the coast of Louisiana Sunday, June 6, 2010.
Charlie Riedel / AP Photo
Brown Pelicans fly past booms stained by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill at Cat Island, La, Sunday, June 6, 2010.
Charlie Riedel / AP Photo
Hermit crabs struggle to cross a patch of oil from the the Deepwater Horizon spill on a barrier island near East Grand Terre Island, La, Sunday, June 6, 2010.
Charlie Riedel / AP Photo
P.J. Hahn lifts his boot out of thick beached oil at Queen Bess Island in Barataria Bay, just off the Gulf of Mexico in Plaquemines Parish, La.
Gerald Herbert / AP Photo
A bird covered in oil flails in the surf along the Louisiana coast.
Charlie Riedel / AP Photo
A brown pelican covered in oil sits on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast on Thursday, June 3, 2010.
Charlie Riedel / AP Photo
A bird flies above a sea of brown oil on the Gulf of Mexico.
Charlie Riedel / AP Photo
A Brown Pelican is mired in oil along the Louisiana coast.
Charlie Riedel / AP Photo
Greenpeace Marine Biologist Paul Horsman surveys oil pooled between reeds and brush on the shoreline of the east bank in the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana May 17, 2010. The White House has called this spill the worst oil spill in U.S. History.
Hans Deryk / Reuters
Here's just a few of the millions of gallons of oil covering the Gulf of Mexico, snapped on May 5. The oil looks like it has orange streaks because it's been emulsified in water—like when you shake a salad dressing bottle.
Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times/MCT
Oxidized oil covers the surface of the water off of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, on May 7, 2010.
Jason Andrew / Getty Images
Seven birds were airlifted Sunday to the Florida Keys. Many more, like the one here, are expected to meet a much worse fate. This poor oil-soaked guy washed ashore in Grand Isle, Louisiana.
Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times / Newscom
Even the littlest creatures are vulnerable: This dragonfly, struggling to clean himself, got stuck to the marsh grass in Garden Island Bay, Louisiana.
Gerald Herbert / AP Photo
Some beach bum holdouts—including these beach-goers on May 12—have refused to let a little multimillion-gallon oil slick ruin their day in the sun, even as men in protective suits trek past. But as thousands of tourists cancel their vacations, the slick is crushing the coastal economy. Analysts estimate the final toll could be $12.5 billion.
Michael Appleton, The New York TImes / Redux
A crude-covered bird struggles in the water against a massive supply vessel at the site of the exploded Deepwater Horizon oil rig.
Gerald Herbert / AP Photo
Sludge has begun to clog the wetlands that are home to these brown pelicans, who were attempting to land May 22 on an island in Barataria Bay, Louisiana.
Gerald Herbert / AP Photo
Controlled burns send black smoke billowing into the sky May 19 during one of BP's handful of failed attempts to cap the link.
John Kepsimelis , U.S. Coast Guard / Bloomberg
The drillship Discoverer Enterprise burns gas leaking from the damaged oil well a mile underwater by sticking a tube into the damaged riser pipe, a method known as flaring, on May 16.
Patrick Kelley, U.S. Coast Guard / AP Photo
Brown pelicans scatter from their nests in Barataria Bay as a Plaquemines Parish worker lays a boom to absorb oil. (The species was removed from the endangered species list recently, only to have this key habitat suddenly threatened.)
Gerald Herbert / AP Photo
BP America Chair and President Lamar McKay faces the music—waiting to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on May 17 as protesters wave signs in the back. Some chanted " BP Kills!" as others protested silently, with black tears painted on their faces.
Win McNamee / Getty Images
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