As officials approached to survey the damage the Gulf oil spill caused in coastal marshes, some brown pelicans couldn't fly away Sunday. All they could do was hobble.
In reporting on the BP oil spill, the media has at times taken liberties in the use of unexplained technical terminology. In the interests of helping readers more easily follow the environmental disaster still unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, here is a basic glossary of oil spill-related terms.