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Ocean scientists in the Gulf of Mexico have found giant plumes of oil coagulating at up to 1,300 metres below the surface, raising fears that the BP oil spill may be larger than thought – and that it might create huge "dead zones".

Members of the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology have been traversing the area around the scene of the Deepwater Horizon, the rig that exploded and sank on 20 April.

Using the latest sampling techniques, they have identified plumes up to 20 miles away from the Deepwater Horizon well head that continues to spew oil into the water at a rate of at least 790,000 litres a day. The largest plume found so far was 90 metres thick, three miles wide and 10 miles long.

BP, which was leading the cleanup, initially employed remotely operated underwater vehicles, 700 workers, four airplanes and 32 vessels to contain the oil.[67] After the discovery that the undersea wellhead was leaking, the oil cleanup was hampered by high waves on April 24 and 25.[84] According to BP Chief Executive, Tony Hayward, BP will compensate all those affected by the oil spill saying that "We are taking full responsibility for the spill and we will clean it up and where people can present legitimate claims for damages we will honor them. We are going to be very, very aggressive in all of that."[120]

On April 28, the US military announced it was joining the cleanup operation.[69] Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of BP, welcomed the assistance of the US military.[69] The same day, the US Coast Guard announced plans to corral and burn off up to 1,000 barrels (42,000 US gallons; 160,000 litres) of oil on the surface each day. It tested how much environmental damage a small, controlled burn of 100 barrels (4,200 US gallons; 16,000 litres) did to surrounding wetlands, but could not proceed with an open seas burn due to poor conditions.[121][122] By April 29, 69 vessels including skimmers, tugs, barges and recovery vessels were active in cleanup activities. On 30 April, President Barack Obama announced that he had dispatched the Secretaries of Department of Interior and Homeland Security, as well as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the Gulf Coast to assess the disaster.[123] The director of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Marcia McNutt, is leading the flow rate technical group of scientists from the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA, MMS, the U.S. Department of Energy and academics outside government who are tasked with providing the government with an independent scientific assessment of the scope of the disaster and of BP's efforts to stop the flow of oil.[124][125][126]