Gulf of Mexico oil spill, 2010. US Army National Guard helicopter lifting sandbags to be dropped along the Louisiana coast. The sandbags will protect important habitats from the oil spill caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico 20th April 2010. Over five thousand barrels of oil a day leaked into the Gulf of Mexico, 80 kilometres from the coast of Louisiana, USA, harming local wildlife and fishing industries. Photographed in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, USA, on 10th May, 2010.