Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico

An oil slick remained in the Gulf of Mexico on May 10, 2010, not far from the Mississippi Delta. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this photo-like image of the slick at 11:35 a.m. local time (16:35 UTC) the same day.

© Image from NASA's Terra satellite - courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team

Thin, wispy clouds partially obscure the satellite sensor's view of the ocean surface south of the Mississippi Delta, but oil on the water's surface is still apparent southeast of the delta. The most obvious portion of the gray-beige slick arches toward the west, with inward-curling tendrils.

© Earth Observatory