Photo timeline of Gulf oil spill (54 images)

Environmental activists hold a rally to protest offshore drilling for oil with a 50-foot-long banner with the message "President Obama: this is your crude awakening" on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House in Washington on May 11, 2010. UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano (R) takes an aerial tour of the Alabama coastline near Mobile on May 11, 2010. Secretary Napolitano inspected ongoing operations to minimize the Deepwater Horizon oil spillÕs impact on public health, the environment and the economy as part of the federal government's continued oversight and emphasis on interagency coordination in response to the spill. UPI/U.S. Coast Guard

Lamar McKay (L), President and Chairman at BP America Inc., Steven Newman, President and CEO of Transocean Ltd, and Tim Probert of Halliburton, are sworn in during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig accident in the Gulf of Mexico, in Washington on May 11, 2010. The company officials try to point fingers and cast blame on one another. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

The drillship Discover Enterprise (far) continues to capture oil from the ruptured riser, while preparations for the possible utilization of a "junk shot" or the "top kill" method are being made aboard the Q4000. This involves shooting rubber scraps into the opening, in hopes of staunching the flow of oil. (UPI/Patrick Kelley/USCG)