Dr Martin Preston, Senior Lecturer in Marine Pollution, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, said:

"This is already a bad spill and has the potential to be much worse if the oil continues to escape. The great depth of the leaks make it a huge technical challenge to deal with. The variability of the weather patterns means that it is going to be very difficult to predict where the oil will come ashore and therefore to be able to prepare defences against it. There are some very important and vulnerable habitats along the coastlines at risk and I think that it is inevitable that some serious and potentially long-term damage may occur. I am not convinced that burning the oil is the right strategy to adopt because it can leave a very persistent residue that can be more resistant to natural breakdown and is also impossible to treat in other ways. Continuing to use chemical dispersants would be a better option provided that there is a sufficient supply and means of delivering them. However there are some suggestions that the supplies of dispersants are running low."