Nearly two months after the explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, starting a massive oil spume into the Gulf of Mexico, the "leak" still has not been stopped. Current estimates of the amount of oil spewing daily into the Gulf are far worse than earlier projections. With oil now reaching the fragile marshes and beaches along the coast, impacts to wildlife also are worsening. In addition, reports of dispersed oil plumes stretching deep into the water column are increasing fears about how widespread the spill will ultimately be, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

The Deepwater Horizon rig's owner, BP, originally estimated that 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons; each barrel equals approximately 42 gallons) of oil was gushing from the well every day, but on June 11, estimates jumped dramatically to 40,000 barrels (1.7 million gallons) per day. Outside experts believe that as much as 100,000 barrels have been pouring out daily, and BP's own high-end estimate is 250,000 barrels per day. BP currently is trying to position pressure sensors on the well to get a more accurate picture of the amount of oil gushing into the water. At the current estimate of 40,000 barrels per day, more than 90 million barrels have flowed into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion. For perspective, that currently puts the catastrophe at almost nine times the amount of oil spilled into Alaska waters by the Exxon Valdez in 1989.

A loose-fitting "top-hat" containment system placed over the wellhead by BP in early June has captured roughly 15,000 barrels per day and a secondary cap that is expected to be deployed this week could collect an additional 5,000 to 10,000 barrels per day. ?On the surface, skimming operations continue with new techniques allowing for even greater collection by pumping the collected oil directly to an attached 24,000-barrel capacity barge. So far more than 4 million gallons of oil have been recovered, but complete stoppage of the flow appears to be far on the horizon.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has 350 staff on site in the Gulf region and numerous conservation organizations are mobilizing volunteers to assist with wildlife rehabilitation as the number of oiled wildlife increases rapidly. The numbers of collected fish and wildlife that have been reported to the Unified Area Command from FWS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), incident area commands, rehabilitation centers and other authorized sources operating within the Deepwater Horizon/BP incident impact area are being reported through the Consolidated Fish and Wildlife Collection Report. On June 13, the report cited 1,282 birds having been collected?557 alive, 725 dead and 40 released after cleaning. Sea turtles also have had tremendous impacts, with 324 collected dead and 63 collected alive but only 3 cleaned and released. Mammals, including dolphins, have had 39 collected dead and 2 collected alive.

For many of the animals collected, the report does not specifically cite oil as the cause of death. The collection reports are only the initial, field-level evaluation of the animals, with full evaluation being done at rehabilitation centers. ??There is an expectation that, with more trained individuals searching for wildlife, there will be more naturally occurring injuries or deaths than normal. Each collected animal is given an identification number that it will have throughout a more thorough examination for oil in the mouth, throat or eyes. For recovered carcasses, necropsies may be completed to determine the exact cause of death. In addition the reports do not clearly illustrate if animals that are collected alive but euthanized due to the extent of injuries are being cited as such.

As the oil spreads along the shoreline, concerns increase for habitat and nesting wildlife on barrier islands and coastal marshes. The Audubon Society has identified much of the area as Important Bird Areas and the FWS has identified 36 national wildlife refuges under threat of contamination. The spill is occurring during the height of nesting season for pelicans, herons, shorebirds, gulls, waterfowl and other resident species, greatly increasing the threat to nesting success in the region. Just a small amount of oil on eggs can cause nest failure. Removed just last year from Endangered Species Act protection, brown pelicans have been particularly vulnerable and large nesting colonies are at risk. Other vulnerable species include the endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles that spend the majority of their life cycle there in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as snowy plovers, piping plovers, least terns and many more. ?And in just six weeks the first wave of migratory waterfowl is expected to return to the region.

Researchers with the University of Georgia reported on June 8 that they had traced an underwater oil plume 15 miles wide, 3 miles long and about 600 feet thick, with a core located 1,100 to 1,300 meters below the surface. ?For the subsurface plumes, the best-case scenario is that oil-eating microbes eat the oil droplets without depressing the amount of oxygen in the water.

With hurricane season starting at the beginning of June, concerns have increased that the spill will be distributed much farther. The high winds and seas with a big storm could mix and "weather" the oil which could accelerate the biodegradation process. However, the situation could deteriorate even faster for the Gulf Coast if a large hurricane were to hit west of the oil spill pushing the bulk of the oil onshore with the storm surge inundating already fragile marshes. ?The impacts of the spill also could spread farther if the plumes and the surface oil get caught up in the Gulf Stream and head around the southern tip of Florida and up the beaches of the East Coast.

There is very little that yet can be stated as a certainty about the long-term impacts of this oil spill. However, most experts agree that this could be an ecological disaster unlike any seen before in the United States. (jas)