Gulf oil spill update: Now covering more than 1800 square miles

According to this New York Times article:

"The leaks were discovered Saturday in the riser, the 5,000-foot-long pipe that extended from the wellhead to the drilling platform. The riser detached from the platform after it exploded and sank, and it is now snaking up from the wellhead and back down to the sea floor. It is leaking in two places, both at the sea floor. The bends in the riser, like kinks in a garden hose, have apparently prevented a gush of oil. When the platform was on the ocean’s surface and the riser was still attached last week, oil and gas were shooting up through the riser, creating plumes of flame."

Luckily, there have been no reports of dead animals and the spill has not reached any shores as of yet.

Doug Helton, a fisheries biologist who coordinates oil spill responses for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said to the New York Times, "Louisiana is the closest area. There is a potential for other Gulf states if the release continues unabated, but we have no indication in our trajectories that shorefall will happen in the next three days."

The sea life that is most vulnerable to this disaster are plankton and fish eggs, affecting future generations of fish populations. Effects of this spill, "will be more severe over time," Helton said.