Deepwater Horizon oil spill tops political agenda

Smoke billows from a controlled burn of spilled oil off the Louisiana coast. Millions of gallons of oil have poured into the Gulf.
Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters

Christopher Rice walks his four children down the oil-covered beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Although the beaches are still open, they have been closed for swimming
Photograph: Dan Anderson/EPA

The marine reef ecologist Scott Porter works to remove oil from his hands
Photograph: Eric Gay/AP

Hermit crabs stained with oil lie dead on the beach at Grand Terre Island near Grand Isle, Louisiana
Photograph: Tannen Maury/EPA

An underwater shot of oil in the Gulf of Mexico south of Venice
Photograph: Rich Matthews/AP

People look out at the rows of oil and booms wrapped around the public pier in Gulf Shores, Alabama
Photograph: Dan Anderson/EPA

A light sheen of oil along Orange beach, Alabama. Orange Beach saw it's heaviest concentration of oil striking the beaches on Saturday
Photograph: Dave Martin/AP

Workers use a suction hose to remove oil washed ashore in Belle Terre, Louisiana
Photograph: Eric Gay/AP

A helicopter under the direction of the Louisiana Army National Guard 205th Engineer Battalion picks up bags of sand in Buras, Louisiana to be dropped at Pelican Island in Barataria Bay
Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Booms surround Queen Bess Island as clean-up operations of oil continue
Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP

Workers use pumps to suck up pockets of oil in Bay Barataria near Grand Isle, Louisiana
Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters

Three oil-coated white ibis sit in marsh grass on a small island in Bay Barataria near Grand Isle, Louisiana. These birds are being rescued and transported to the Fort Jackson rehabilitation centre by well-trained and knowledgeable wildlife responders, veterinarians, biologists and wildlife rehabilitators
Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters

A shrimp boat converted to oil skimmer passes behind a Brown Pelican coated in oil on a rookery island near Grand Isle, Louisiana
Photograph: Tannen Maury/EPA

A volunteer uses a toothbrush to clean an oil-covered white pelican found off the Louisiana coast
Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines parish, Louisiana, testifies before the state, local and private sector preparedness and integration subcommittee during a hearing. Nungesser and other local officials explained to the committee the effect the oil spill is having in their communities and the difficulty they are having in working through federal and private sector bureaucracies to get issues resolved
Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images

A dead turtle floats on a pool of oil in Barataria Bay off the coast of Louisiana
Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP