Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

The top kill effort was not successful at 5,000 feet underwater.

The relief well will not reach the oil leak until August.

Watch the live video feed from the oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

Explore the Google Map. Where is the oil? Where will the oil travel to?

If you have a suggestion for cleaning up the oil submit your idea.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Will the top kill effort succeed at 5,000 feet underwater?

Watch the live video feed from the oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

Explore the Google Map. Where is the oil? Where will the oil travel to?

If you have a suggestion for cleaning up the oil submit your idea.

Grade 3- Oil Spill in Pictures

In the three weeks since the April 20th explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and the start of the subsequent massive (and ongoing) oil leak, many attempts have been made to contain and control the scale of the environmental disaster. Oil dispersants are being sprayed, containment booms erected, protective barriers built, controlled burns undertaken, and devices are being lowered to the sea floor to try and cap the leaks, with little success to date.

Grade 3 Oil Spill- Google Earth

On April 20th, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon left 17 workers injured and 11 missing and presumed dead. Oil is spilling from a well 5000 feet below sea level, discharging 200,000 gallons of crude oil a day according to the official estimate (though over 2 million a day, by private estimates).

The spill covers at least 2500 square miles of ocean surface. You can see the extent of the damage here as of May 13th, just southeast of New Orleans.

But how big is the spill, really? It's hard to get a sense of the true size when it's over the ocean floor. Use the links below to see how large the spill is.



by Paul Rademacher
Built using Google Earth API