In this Oct. 14, 2010 picture, Plaquemines Parish coastal zone director P.J. Hahn walks through oiled marsh grass in Bay Jimmy near the Louisiana coast. Six months after the rig explosion that led to the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, damage to the Gulf of Mexico can be measured more in increments than extinctions, say scientists polled by The Associated Press. There is no comprehensive calculation for how much marshland was oiled, but estimates range from less than a square mile to just a handful of square miles. Regardless, in the big picture that's hardly alarming: Louisiana loses roughly 25 square miles of marsh each year due to a host of environmental and manmade causes. The state is the site of one of the most ferocious rates of land loss in the world. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
AP
