© NASA Earth Observatory
New Orleans, Louisiana - The estimated amount of oil leaking from a sunken rig in the Gulf of Mexico has increased to as much as 5,000 barrels a day -- five times more than what was originally believed, a Coast Guard official said.
Rear Adm. Mary Landry told reporters late Wednesday that the increased estimate is based on analysis from the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"This is not an exact science when you estimate the amount of oil," Landry said, noting there are a lot of variables in calculating the rate of the spill.
"However, NOAA is telling me now that they prefer we use the 5,000 barrels [210,000 gallons] a day as an estimate of what has actually leaked from this well and will continue to leak until BP secures the source."
Some 250,000 gallons of oily water has been collected from the scene, she said.
Comment: Hmm...perhaps this sheds some light on this poor rooster's plight: "Scientists are warning that manmade pollutants which have escaped into the environment mimic the female sex hormone oestrogen" from Men under threat from 'gender bending' chemicals.