Dense areas of deep coral that have taken hundreds of years to grow are located under the oil slick.

VOA: standard.2010.05.26

The oil slick threatens ever-larger swaths of the U.S.coastline, placing sensitive marine ecosystems in peril.

VOA: standard.2010.05.02

But he fears that could all be coming to an end as the massive oil slick from the Deep Water Horizon drilling rig creeps toward the coast.

VOA: standard.2010.05.04

It's difficult to keep track of the slick, says co-pilot Brian Boland.

VOA: standard.2010.07.05

Several miles off the Eastern Louisiana coast these barrier islands are all that stand between treasured wetland habitats and the giant oil slick adrift in the Gulf of Mexico.

VOA: standard.2010.05.09

The oil slick has now entered the loop current that runs from the Gulf of Mexico to the Florida Keys and up the east coast of the U.S., Jarvis said.

VOA: standard.2010.05.26

In the past oil and ecology have struck a delicate balance in Louisiana, but as the massive slick drifts closer to the coast that could be coming to an end.

VOA: standard.2010.05.09