But the looming springtime hit on the Louisiana coast -- a fragile wetland maze teeming with wildlife and a multi-billion-dollar fishing industry -- represents a nightmare scenario for clean-up crews.

"There are just miles and miles of coastal wetlands there that can only be reached by boat. And they're very delicate."said LuAnn White, director of Tulane University's Center for Applied Environmental Public Health.

"It's not like a bunch of volunteers can go down and mop up the beach," she said, explaining that high tides and winds can be expected to push the oil deep into the marshes.

The Gulf coast holds 40 percent of the United States' wetlands -- convoluted swamps and marshes fed by the rich sediments of the Mississippi delta.

It is a prime spawning ground for fish, shrimp and crabs, a home to oyster beds, and a major stop for migratory birds.

"For birds, the timing could not be worse; they are breeding, nesting and especially vulnerable in many of the places where the oil could come ashore," said Melanie Driscoll of the Audubon Society, a nature conservancy group.

Just getting to the slick in the wetlands could take hours, and once there, there's nothing to stand on, let alone anywhere to set up a command center, White said.

Birds and mammals can suffocate or die of hypothermia if their feathers or fur are coated in oil, while turtles and alligators -- and dolphins and whales further offshore -- are at risk of inhaling or ingesting the oil when they surface for air or eat prey covered in oil, which can lead to inflammation, organ damage and other complications.

"We have to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, including a true catastrophe for birds," Driscoll said in a statement.

The Audubon group is already recruiting clean-up volunteers and making sites available for bird cleansing and rehabilitation.

At risk include the state bird of Louisiana, the brown pelican; various types of gulls, several beach-nesting shorebirds, and large wading birds, including ibises, herons, and egrets.

Another major concern is that the toxins will kill the grasses that keep the sediment from washing away into the sea.

Les Bahr, who for years worked on coastal affairs for the state of Louisiana, said the salt marshes on the fringes of the coast were "already stressed, and I would imagine not able to tolerate much more stress."

There are some 400 species of various animals living in the wetlands as well as a wealth of microscopic organisms that are "very vulnerable" to spill contamination.

According to Bahr, oysters in the region can survive a fair amount of pollution, "but they pick up the taste of the oil that makes them unmarketable."

Tom Minello, an ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, worried about the long term impact of the oil spill on US fisheries resources.

"If you get direct oiling of inter-tidal salt marshes and sea grass beds it'll just kill the vegetation. It takes years for a wetland to recover from that kind of oiling."

While the oil floats, some hydrocarbons nonetheless sink and cause problems with toxicity which can kill off fish larvae and other marine life.

"If this thing continues for months like people are concerned about, we're going to have a lot of other potential impacts," Minello warned.

Bahr said he "noted the irony" in the timing of the spill, coming soon after President Barack Obama announced expanded offshore drilling.

"If theres a positive thing here it's to alert the country that there are risks to offshore drilling," said Bahr, who also runs the blogsite lacoastpost.com.

The Gulf Restoration Network environmental group said it was "deeply concerned" about the spill impact and wants an immediate halt to new offshore drilling.

"We are concerned that the decision to increase drilling in the Gulf by the Obama administration was made based on false promises by the oil industry," said Jonathan Henderson, a GRN expert.

As the oil rig sinking "clearly demonstrates, even the latest industry safeguards are insufficient to protect our coast," Henderson said in a statement.

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