Oil spill from Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion begins to reach land

Members of a shoreline cleanup assessment team (SCAT) follow a trail of oil debris from the Deepwater Horizon spill on the shoreline of Raccoon Island, off the coast of Louisiana in the gulf of Mexico, on 12 May. The island is a protected bird breeding sanctuary Photograph: Jonathen E. Davis/USCG Photograph: Jonathen E. Davis/guardian.co.uk Coast Guard crew from the USCGC Harry Claiborne remove a boom that had been used to help skim oil from the ocean surface Photograph: Jonathen E. Davis/USCG Photograph: Jonathen E. Davis/guardian.co.uk A worker takes a break from unloading oil booms to protect marshlands in Hopedale, Louisiana, on 13 May Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images Photograph: John Moore/guardian.co.uk SCAT's Todd Farrar holds up hard tar balls found on the beach in Pass Christian, Mississippi, on 12 May Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters Photograph: Sean Gardner/guardian.co.uk Transocean CEO Steve Newman and BP chairman Lamar McKay prepare to testify before the House Energy and Commerce committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, on 12 May Photograph: YURI GRIPAS/REUTERS Photograph: YURI GRIPAS/guardian.co.uk Demonstrators outside BP Amoco's Washington office, 12 May Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Jewel Samad/guardian.co.uk Oil spewing from a yellowish, broken pipe 5,000 feet below the surface, in a video of the Deepwater Horizon leak released by BP. The stream occasionally becomes lighter as natural gas mixes into the gusher Photograph: AP Photograph: guardian.co.uk Monitors show the lowering of 'the top hat', a pollution containment chamber, into the gulf of Mexico by the motor vessel Viking Poseidon. Released by the US Coast Guard on 11 May Photograph: Patrick Kelley/AP Photograph: Patrick Kelley/guardian.co.uk The chamber being lowered. Another Coast Guard photograph, from 7 May Photograph: Patrick Kelley /USCG/EPA Photograph: Patrick Kelley /USCG/guardian.co.uk Kevin Reynolds, a crew member on the supply vessel Joe Griffin, duct-tapes absorbent pads to hoses to transfer water and fuel to the Development Driller III, drilling a relief well at the site of the spill on 11 May Photograph: Pool/Getty Images Photograph: Pool/guardian.co.uk The Development Driller III Photograph: Pool/Getty Images Photograph: Pool/guardian.co.uk Workers clean up oil along a beach at South Pass, Louisiana, on 11 May, near where the the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico Photograph: USCG Photograph: guardian.co.uk Inmates from a La Fourche parish jail on a work release program fill giant sandbags in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on 11 May. US Army National Guard troops were dropping the sandbags using helicopters on nearby breaks in beaches to protect marshes from the spill Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters Photograph: RICK WILKING/guardian.co.uk A Louisiana National Guard Black Hawk helicopter brings sand bags to form a blockage across a water way to keep potential oil out near Grand Isle, Louisiana, on 11 May Photograph: Larry W. Smith/EPA Photograph: Larry W. Smith/guardian.co.uk Louisiana National Guard use dump trucks to dam off part of the marsh on Elmer's Island in Grand Isle, on 10 May Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP Photograph: Alex Brandon/guardian.co.uk Sunbathers on the beach at Dauphin Island, Alabama, behind hay bales placed to absorb any oil that might come ashore, 11 May Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters Photograph: Brian Snyder/guardian.co.uk Air quality monitoring equipment is installed on the pier at Dauphin Island, 10 May. Tar balls started washing up there on 8 May Photograph: BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS Photograph: BRIAN SNYDER/guardian.co.uk An oil stained cattle egret on the deck of the supply vessel Joe Griffin, 9 May Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP Photograph: Gerald Herbert/guardian.co.uk An oil soaked bird struggles against the oil-slicked side of the HOS Iron Horse supply vessel, 9 May Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP Photograph: Gerald Herbert/guardian.co.uk Fishermen use their shrimp boat to place oil booms into the water near Shell Beach, Louisiana, on 8 May Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images Photograph: Joe Raedle/guardian.co.uk Fishing boats drag booms through an oil slick that has passsed inside of the protective barrier formed by the Chandeleur Islands Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Mark Ralston/guardian.co.uk Booms around the islands, 7 May Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters Photograph: Brian Snyder/guardian.co.uk Boats including a barge carrying a oil containment vessel sit out in Venice, Louisiana, near the site of the spill, on 6 May Photograph: Chris Graythen/Getty Images Photograph: Chris Graythen/guardian.co.uk Oil burns during a controlled fire in the gulf of Mexico on 6 May Photograph: U.S. Navy/Getty Images Photograph: U.S. Navy/guardian.co.uk The crew of a Basler BT-67 fixed wing aircraft release oil dispersant, 5 May Photograph: HO/Reuters Photograph: HO/guardian.co.uk