So, here's the Gulf of Mexico oil situation after a weekend of struggles to stem the flood of oil, assessing where all the spilled oil has gone and what it's doing, and preparing for the immediate future.

<Update: A whistleblower filed suit today against British Petroleum, hoping to halt BP's drilling operation at another Gulf of Mexico offshore site. The reason: alleged failure to review engineering designs that could lead to an oil spill that could "dwarf" the one BP is dealing with now.>

<Update: The first political casualty of the Gulf oil spill is the top official overseeing offshore oil and gas drilling for the Minerals Management Service—the federal agency soon to be drastically reorganized because of its cozy relationship with the oil industry it is supposed to regulate.>

As British Petroleum shows some success in diverting oil from its ruptured well on the seabed, scientists have discovered vast plumes of undersea oil—one the size of Manhattan. The ecological implications are hard to grasp because it mostly is lurking out of sight. AP provides this:

<Update: Today, President Obama endorsed a plan to radically reorganize the federal Minerals Management Services agency because of its conflict-of-interest relationship with the oil industry. The MMS collects billions of dollars in royalties from oil companies it is supposed to regulate. "It is pretty clear that the system failed, and failed badly," the president said in reference to how MMS and oil companies handled the approval process for the Gulf of Mexico oil well that blew out three weeks ago, gushing millions of gallons of oil into the sea.>

<Update: Also today, as reported by The New York Times:

Reacting to reports that federal regulators allowed extensive offshore drilling without first demanding the required environmental permits, the White House and the Interior Department said Friday that there would be a review of all actions taken by the Minerals Management Service, the agency responsible for offshore rigs, under the National Environmental Policy Act.

After passing blame for the Gulf oil spill during congressional hearings earlier this week, the head of British Petroleum is now accepting some—admitting that his company wasn't prepared to handle a spill that continues to pour 210,000 gallons of oil each day. <See the undersea video of leaking oil.>

The Wall Street Journal reports that BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward "in an interview with a small group of journalists Wednesday night, admitted the U.K.-based oil giant had not had the technology available to stop the leak, and said in hindsight it was 'probably true' that BP should have done more to prepare for an emergency of this kind."

Hayward's admission is in stark contrast to assurances BP made in convincing the federal Minerals Management Service to permit it to drill in mile-deep Gulf waters. Similar assurances by Shell Oil convinced MMS to permit Shell's exploratory offshore drilling this summer in the Arctic Ocean—something Earthjustice is working vigorously to prevent.

<Update: Environmental groups are hopeful that public outrage over the Gulf oil spill strengthens a green movement towards more sustainable living.>

Public opinion is sharply reflecting three weeks of un-staunched oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Less than half of Americans now support offshore oil drilling—a huge drop from the days of "drill, baby, drill"—according to a new CBS poll.

Polling indicates a swing from 64 percent favorable to offshore drilling to only 46 percent now. Forty-one percent of those polled say the costs and risks of drilling are too great. Previously, only 28 percent held that position.