Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Spreading in Gulf of Mexico

Fire boats battle a fire at the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon April 21, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, after an explosion and fire caused the crew to evacuate. (Photo by U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images)

Weather is no longer hindering responders from working to contain the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, after storms hampered efforts on Saturday and Sunday, according to an update on a joint website devoted to the incident.

"Safety is always our main point, safety of human lives and of the environment," said Coast Guard spokesman Thomas Akeson.

He said rough seas were subsiding on Monday, while 8 skimming vessels and 11 large offshore response vessels stood by, waiting for the seas to be calm enough for crews to safely do their work. Two drilling rigs from BP are preparing to begin drilling a relief well.

BP and Transocean have deployed robotic submarines to “activate the blowout preventer,” a 450-ton valve at the top of the oil well, according to the site. The process, which is intended to stop the spilling of an estimated 8,000 gallons of oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico, may take 36 hours.

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service air crew saw five whales near the spill on Sunday. The oil spill is now 48 miles by 39 miles wide and spreading, and located about 30 miles from the coast of Venice, Louisiana. Since the whales were seen, responders will not use the oil dispersing chemicals in the vicinity of the whales, as they could be harmful to the mammals.

The command team will work closely with Fish and Wildlife, National Marine Fisheries Service, and the NOAA stay on top of the effect of the spill and their work on the local wildlife. More than 1,000 people are now working to contain the spill.

Akeson said there have been no reports of wildlife harmed by the oil spill. The whales showed no signs of distress. He said the good news is that 97 percent of the spill is a "light rainbow sheen," unlike the thick, damaging sludge that characterized the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.

The oil is a light crude, unlike heavy crude, which would be more dangerous to the environment, he said. The cleanup crew is focused on the remaining 3 percent of the spill that is more concentrated oil, dubbed "streamers."

The Department of Homeland Security, NOAA, The Coast Guard, BP, and TransOcean established a website with daily updates on the spill.