A boater navigates through oil sheen in the Gulf of Mexico south of Orange Beach, Ala., Wednesday, June 16, 2010. A flyover of Baldwin County's shoreline on Thursday, July 1, 2010, revealed a high concentration of oil in different forms making its way into back bays and the mouth of Mobile Bay. Press-Register / Mike Kittrell By Ryan Dezember, Press-Register Ryan Dezember, Press-Register
Published: Thursday, July 01, 2010, 6:32 PM Following an afternoon reconnaissance flight today, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach employees reported that oil of some sort — be it sheen, tarballs or orange globs — had impacted all 32 miles of Baldwin’s beaches and streams of oil were spotted as far north as Wolf Bay in Orange Beach. The post-flight report also noted heavy sheen and streams of weathered oil moving into Mobile Bay off the tip of the Fort Morgan peninsula and on the north side of Dauphin Island. The report indicated that there would probably not be any relief on the horizon: Near-solid sheen, broken by masses of thicker oil, stretched for dozens of miles offshore along the entirety of Baldwin’s coast. Offshore winds are expected to continue pushing the massive oil slick into the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle through Saturday, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast.

Flight shows Gulf oil spill penetrating inland waterways and Mobile Bay