On April 20 BP's Deepwater Horizon deep sea oil rig exploded, burned for some time and eventually sank. The rig left it its wake a ruptured well pipe that is spewing out 210,000 gallons (5,000 barrels) of sweet crude oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico. BP officials are on the record saying that it could take as long as 90 days to stop the leak, meaning that almost 18.9 million gallons could ultimately get into the water. To put the spill into perspective, the worst oil spill in the US's history was the Exxon Valdez crash in 1989 that spilled almost 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound. The oil is drifting towards the coast, pushed on by high speed winds and large waves. The oil spill could cause massive destruction to the already fragile barrier islands, marshes and coastal wetland areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. There is already evidence of the oil arriving at the coast and its effect on coastal areas is expected to increase rapidly over the coming days. For up to date information and analysis on the oil spill, check out what our friends at the Gulf Restoration Network are doing.