Gulf Oil Spill - What Happened?

• The spill began on 20 April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico .
• The explosion and sinking of the oil rig Deepwater Horizon claimed eleven lives.
• The leaking well flowed for 87 days, until it was capped on 15 July 2010.
• An estimated 4.9 million barrels (210 million gallons) of oil leaked into the water.
• The spill is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.

Photo: NASA/GSFC, MODIS