Oil spill cleanup: A look back

The worst maritime oil spill in history began two years ago in the Gulf of Mexico.

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April 21, 2010

This U.S. Coast Guard image shows fire boat response crews as they battle the blazing remnants of the BP operated offshore oil rig, Deepwater Horizon, in the Gulf of Mexico. The worst maritime oil spill in history began with a drop in pressure in a poorly drilled well deep.

/ AFP/Getty Images

March 3, 2011

Workers clean oil left over from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico at Perdido Key State Park in Pensacola, Fla. Crews continued to work to remove leftover oil from beaches along the Gulf Coast.

Eric Thayer / Getty Images

March 10, 2011

Workers clean up oil along Pensacola Beach, Fla.

Eric Thayer / Getty Images

March 28, 2011

Fishermen and members of the community listen to Ken Feinberg, administrator of the BP claims fund, speak at a public meeting in Mathews, La.

Julia Rendleman / AP

April 1, 2011

Tulane University population ecologist Jessica Henkel sets up a net to catch migrating birds. She will test blood, fecal and feather samples on Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La., as part of a research project looking for long-term effects from the BP oil spill on birds that stop along the Gulf Coast during their migration.

Patrick Semansky / AP

April 7, 2011

Fly fishing guide Mark Brockhoeft poles his boat on a waterway to avoid scaring fish with the sound of his boat's engine in Plaquemines Parish, La. While oil never made it to inland marshes, Brockhoeft's bookings are down from years past, which he blames on misperceptions of the spill's reach.

Patrick Semansky / AP

April 10, 2011

Workers clean a section of shoreline heavily damaged by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill at the mouth of the Mississippi River where it meets the Gulf of Mexico.

Gerald Herbert / AP

April 10, 2011

A supply vessel floats beside a rig in Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana.

Gerald Herbert / AP

April 13, 2011

The sun sets beyond the beach as waves wash up from the Gulf of Mexico in Grand Isle, La. Oil from the BP spill washed up on this beach in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion that killed 11 crew members. An estimated 206 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico until the well was finally sealed.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

April 13, 2011

A sand berm built to capture oil from the BP spill is seen at an oil cleanup site in Barataria Bay, La. The bay and its fragile wetlands were among the hardest hit areas in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

April 13, 2011

A man walks past waves as they wash up from the Gulf of Mexico onto the beach in Isla Grand Terre, La. Residents report that oil still washes up onto the beach after storms.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

April 13, 2011

A sand berm built to capture oil from the BP spill is seen at a cleanup site in Barataria Bay, La. April 20 marks the first anniversary of the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

April 13, 2011

A boat trawls for white shrimp just off the coast of Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La. with a an oil rig seen in the background.

Dave Martin / AP

April 13, 2011

Forrest Travirca, foreground, land warden for Wisner Properties, and Wisner Foundation executive Cathy Norman, background center, examine the oil-stained sand at Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La.

Dave Martin / AP

April 13, 2011

Forrest Travirca, center, land warden for Wisner Properties, and Wisner Foundation Executive Cathy Norman, left, examine the remains of a dead dolphin at Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La.

Dave Martin / AP

April 14, 2011

A dead sea turtle is carried out of the surf by Donald Tillman in Waveland, Miss. Local turtle activists Donald and Shirley Tillman say they have discovered 19 dead sea turtles in Mississippi in the month of April alone.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

April 14, 2011

A dying seagull is seen washed onto shore in Waveland, Miss. Animals are still washing up on beaches in high numbers in Mississippi, which continues to be impacted by tar balls and weathered oil.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

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