Portland Free School
Live feed of Gulf Oil Spill
The oil spill began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 people. It's the worst spill in U.S. history
BP sometimes turns the public cam away from the oil spill. That's why I have an additional streaming cam posted here.
BP tried a Top Kill Procedure to plug the leak, but it did not work. No one knows exactly how much oil is spewing into the ocean, but recent reports estimate 30,000 barrels (1,260,000 gallons) a day are still spilling out.
That means enough oil has spilled into the Gulf of Mexico to fill about half a million bathtubs...
or for every American to have a medium-size drink of it.
Oil does not just sit 'on top' of the water. Plumes of undersea oil have been reported as large as 22 miles long by 6 miles wide and in depths from a few to over 3000 ft deep.
The Ocean Futures Expedition Team discovered this massive oil slick just 24 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The oil stretched as far as the eye could see and down to about 15 to 25 feet deep. Amongst the muck swims a Man o' War and a small fish that swims alongside for protection. The team is encountering many floating globs of rust colored oil; dark black fresh crude; and oily surfaces as they explore the coast. Filmed on May 23, 2010.
Video of oil spilling out of pipe, one mile below Deepwater Horizon platform, filmed on 5/8/2010
Memorial Service for the Eleven Men Killed in the Deep Horizons Platform Explosion
Here's a slideshow of some of the oil spill's effect on ocean and shore life during the first few weeks.
Oil soaked birds being rescued along the Louisiana coast
The cost to wildlife is very high. Some experts estimate that only one oiled bird in 1000 survives, and that it is irresponsible and unethical to put the birds through the stress of being captured, handled and cleaned. Other wildlife agencies state that 50% of the birds they treat survive, and it is clearly worth the effort and stress to the birds.
Click on the infographics below to see more information about the oil spill
Click once, wait for the file page to open, then click again on image for largest size (easy to read)
Protest Art (BP, or British Petroleum, is the corporation mainly responsible for the oil spill)
FAA issues NO FLY order:
The types of photographs that can't be taken because of the No Fly Zone
