Pictures from the Ridley Thomas as we pass 5 nautical miles northwest of the Deepwater disaster site. My camera isn't a telephoto, but I did max out the zoom...
URI's own R/V Endeavor, enlisted to monitor traffic in and out of the area. BP is maintaining a 5nm exclusion zone, and you need permission to enter that radius. BP has control over a 15nm radius around the site, meaning they can divert you if they please (they let us in, which is fortunate considering we're working for them). Outside of 15nm vessels are free to move.
The two rigs, DDII and DDIII, drilling kill bores to intersect the blowout well 17,000 feet below the sea floor and seal it off with concrete. First one there wins (and the DDIII is ahead, but it had a two-week head start).
To the left, the Discoverer Enterprise, the ship which has staged the cap-and-pump operation. The flames are methane flares--they simply burn off the natural gas which accompanies the oil. Excess natural gas which penetrated a poorly-made well, and then rushed up the pipe to the surface, is what led to this whole disaster.
Another shot of the kill bore (also known as relief well) drill platforms.
Another of the Enterprise. BP has brought in a platform (out of view from this angle) which is able to pump more oil than the Enterprise can, and another pump ship is on the way, since the Enterprise is better suited to drilling than production.
The drill platforms again. It's not quite as hazy as these photos make it seem--those things are still over 5nm away.
The Enterprise again. From this angle, we could smell the methane flare. It seemed to me like a tire fire (and I could feel a tingle at the back of my throat). Eric compared it to the smell of I95 in Jersey...
One last shot of the Enterprise. Those water jets are to cool off the methane flare pipes.
URI's own R/V Endeavor, enlisted to monitor traffic in and out of the area. BP is maintaining a 5nm exclusion zone, and you need permission to enter that radius. BP has control over a 15nm radius around the site, meaning they can divert you if they please (they let us in, which is fortunate considering we're working for them). Outside of 15nm vessels are free to move.
The two rigs, DDII and DDIII, drilling kill bores to intersect the blowout well 17,000 feet below the sea floor and seal it off with concrete. First one there wins (and the DDIII is ahead, but it had a two-week head start). 
To the left, the Discoverer Enterprise, the ship which has staged the cap-and-pump operation. The flames are methane flares--they simply burn off the natural gas which accompanies the oil. Excess natural gas which penetrated a poorly-made well, and then rushed up the pipe to the surface, is what led to this whole disaster.
Another shot of the kill bore (also known as relief well) drill platforms.
Another of the Enterprise. BP has brought in a platform (out of view from this angle) which is able to pump more oil than the Enterprise can, and another pump ship is on the way, since the Enterprise is better suited to drilling than production.
The drill platforms again. It's not quite as hazy as these photos make it seem--those things are still over 5nm away.
The Enterprise again. From this angle, we could smell the methane flare. It seemed to me like a tire fire (and I could feel a tingle at the back of my throat). Eric compared it to the smell of I95 in Jersey...
One last shot of the Enterprise. Those water jets are to cool off the methane flare pipes.
what insightful pictures. You are at the center of it all. A truly horrible disaster for us all. Julie keeps me updated with all your doings. Congrats. on your beautiful daughter.
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