Workers untangle hoses in attempt to clean up the oil that has reached the shoreline off the Gulf of Mexico.

The oil spill is releasing an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 barrels of oil per day, and efforts to manage the spill with controlled burning, plugging, and dispersal have been unsuccessful.

The oil spill was caused by an explosion at an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. It took the coast guard hours to put out the flames, but the leaking of oil continued.

The wildlife have been greatly affected by these oil spills.

Oil covers birds' feathers and gets stickier through weathering. Oil can cause many problems for birds, such as hypothermia by reducing or destroying the insulation and weathering properties in their feathers. They are easy prey because they are unable to fly while coated in oil. Birds can starve or become dehydrated because of their inability to dive for food. Drowning often occurs because the oil makes them too heavy and their feathers can't get enough air between them to keep them buoyant.

This oil spill could become the worst oil spill in history. BP alone has lost $25 billion in market value and there are serious concerns about Gulf fishing and seafood industry. Chief manager of BP Tony Hayward thinks about how to handle the situation.

Oil does not have to be sticky to be dangerous.

Protesters and animal rights movements demand a solution from BP about what they plan to do to clean up the some 5,000 barrels of oil in the Gulf Mexico.

In the first 12 hours of June 9th, approximately 7,920 barrels of oil has been collected and 15.7 cubic feet of natural gases were flared.

Helicopters and shipping vessels travel back and forth from the spill site to help clean up the oil as quickly as possible.

To date, almost 42,000 claims have been submitted and more than 20,000 payments have been made. BP has received more than 173,000 calls into help lines to donate to or to volunteer to support the cause.