When tar balls first washed up on the shore of Orange Beach, Alabama, on May 11, 2010, Mayor Tony Kennon was outraged.

Biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service search for dead or oiled birds.The effect the Mississippi River has on the spill is explored.

In a large warehouse at Ft. Jackson, Louisiana, volunteers and employees of Tri-State Bird rescue clean oiled birds with Dawn detergent dish washing soap.

Biologists from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service search for oiled or dead birds along the Mississippi Delta below Venice, La.

Perdido Pass, Alabama, was once favored by Gulf pirates. But oil now sullies the azure waters, something its dynamic Mayor Tony Kennon hopes to change soon.

Angry Cajun fishermen meet with BP officials in a Town meeting in Larose, Louisiana to discuss BP's " Vessels of Opportunity" program.

Reporting from Grande Isle, Louisiana, video-journalist Stephenie Hollyman explores the arcane science of booming oil.

Like a stunned prize-fighter who has just recovered from a knock-out blow, Clifton sits on the edge of his new boat with his uncle and discusses his future.

Stephenie Hollyman reported, filmed and cut this story in Grande Isle, Louisiana, before the oil hit the shore.