The Gulf of Mexico oil well whose rig exploded and sank last week is now leaking about 1000 barrels of oil a day.
The oil remains three days of unimpeded floating from the shore, and the Coast Guard claims that wildlife impact has been minimal, but the US Fish and Wildlife Service has spotted sperm whales in the vicinity of the spill.
Four unmanned submarines have been summoned to the scene and are trying to manually activate the well's "blowout preventer," a valve at the wellhead that was supposed to have closed automatically. If that effort fails, BP - the company that owns the well and is financially responsible for the cleanup - would have to at least one relief well very close to the damaged well and try to intercept the flowing oil.
In the interim, BP will try covering the leaking well with a huge dome-like device and pumping dome's contents to the surface. If the dome technology fails, however, and the well continues to leak at Monday's rate, the disaster will reach "major spill" status on Thursday.
