BP oil spill one year on – in pictures

The sun reflects off the blue water at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

Tourists from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, relax on the beach in Pass Christian, Mississippi Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

A worker scans for oil left over from the spill at Perdido Key state park in Pensacola, Florida Photograph: Eric Thayer/Getty Images

People fish on Dauphin Island, Alabama, with an oil rig in the background Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Idle oyster harvesting boats sit docked in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Oystermen are prevented from using the boats because of restrictions on the type of harvesting that is allowed in the wake of the spill Photograph: Jason Bronis/AP

Workers shuck oysters at Crystal Seas Oysters in Pass Christian, Mississippi Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Concerned citizens attend a meeting in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, for Gulf coast residents who have health problems possibly related to the oil spill Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Brad Mizell points to sores on his arm in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Mizell worked on BP's Vessels of Opportunity programme which hired local fishermen to help clean up the oil spill Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Cat Island, in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, still bears damage from the spill Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

Workers clean a section of shoreline heavily damaged by the spill at the mouth of the Mississippi river, where it meets the Gulf of Mexico Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

Oiled and dead marsh grass mixes with new growth along the banks of Barataria Bay in Louisiana Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters

Volunteers have begun a coastal restoration project in the Pass a Loutre wildlife management area at the mouth of the Mississippi river Photograph: Julie Dermansky/Corbis

A dead crab lies on an area of marsh ravaged by oil in Ocean Springs, Mississippi Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

A sand berm built to capture oil from the spill in Barataria Bay, Louisiana Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Microbes degrade oil in the plume from the spill – a study by Berkeley Lab researchers has shown Photograph: HO/Reuters

A dead armadillo in Waveland, Mississippi Photograph: Julie Dermansky/Corbis

Activist Shirley Tillman looks on next to what she believes is oil mixed with dispersant in Waveland, Mississippi Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

A dead sea turtle that washed ashore in Pass Christian, Mississippi Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

A dead bird in Pass Christian, Mississippi Photograph: Julie Dermansky/Corbis

A young dead dolphin is found off the coast of Louisiana. Although the cause of death here is unknown, there have been usually high numbers of dead dolphins found in the region since the beginning of 2011 Photograph: Julie Dermansky/Corbis