The Oil War in The Gulf of Mexico

"In fact, there are three fronts. We’ve got the emissions at the bottom of the ocean. We have where the oil is coming to the surface and trying to fight it as far offshore as we can -- you’d rather deal with it there before it even gets close to shore -- and then how you deal when it makes contact with shore. And the three kind of distinct operations require different sets of -- types of capability. And we’re fighting a three-front war basically at once."

That's from Admiral Thad Allen, recently retired from the Coast Guard, and the government's point man on the disastrous and non-stop gusher of oil in the deepwaters of the Gulf of Mexico. KnoxViews has more from Adm. Allen's comments yesterday.

Above that quote, one of several jaw-dropping images featured on The Big Picture. The ever-growing pollution and environmental destruction is hitting the smallest and the largest lifeforms across the region. Here are some other pics from the web site. Click on the images to see them in larger formats, or just click on the link above to The Big Picture.