by Barbara Callahan
-USA-

On April 20, 2010 the drilling rig the Deepwater Horizon - owned by Transocean, the world’s largest offshore oil drilling contractor, and leased by the multinational oil company BP - exploded approximately fifty miles off the Louisiana coast in 5,000 ft of water. The resulting ocean floor rupture has been continuously gushing crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico for the past four weeks. In a closed-door briefing with members of the US Congress, BP officials conceded the rupture could be spewing as much as 60,000 barrels a day. Many officials worry the leak could go on for months.

• Image of an oiled Pelican. Photo courtesy of the author. •