it s so sad. reporter: yeah. yeah. there are a few more people coming out, but that will be the big question today just how hadi many will come out to the beach or the fireworks tonight. michelle franzen, thanks for joining us all morning. a massive new weapon in the fight to clean up all of the oil could be put to work in the gulf. the ship called a whale is more than 1,000 feet long, and its owners say it can take in and clean up 21 million gallons a day. undergoing tests today and if all goes well, the coast guard and bp may put it to work. volunteers will soon undertake an imbitious plan to save turtle egg as long the gulf coast. some 70,000 eggs will be carefully hand picked and shipped to a storage facility near cape canaveral florida. the washington post says crews have spotted four whale sharks swimming alongside oil in search of food.
times please keep the plans. the other oil disaster headlines of the day. a new tool could help in the gulf of mexico cleanup. a converted oil tanker more than 1,000 feet long, cruising near the spill to show how much oily water it can scoop up and clean. if the test goes well, the coast guard and bp may put this ship called a whale to work. meanwhile, work on two relief wells is reportedly ahead of schedule but bp sticking with the estimate of mid-august as to when the wells will be completed. churches, other nonprofit groups among those filing damage claims with bp. nonprofits say donations are down because of the spill s impact on the gulf s economy. if you think the russian spy case is getting a lot of exposure before, now this. british tabloids published topless photographs of a woman said to be anna chapman, the redhead at center of the alleged espionage. chapman being held in a u.s.
boats are waiting to go to work. it s called a whale and it s undergoing environmental tests by the epa. officials are seeing if it can handle oil that s been mixed with the dispersants used in the gulf. so those high waves from alex also have made the containment cap bounce around and that has caused 20,000 more barrels of oil to escape into the water. this is now day 75 since the spill. jean-michel cousteau is a conservationist and author. he was with us last weekend talking about plans to make plans to the gulf coast of louisiana and there he is in new orleans. good to see you again. very good to see you. it s sad to be back under those circumstance, but on our last trip we have been able in the
governor bobby jindal here in louisiana. we talked to him about these rock jetties he has been trying to put up all along the coast here, but especially in barataria bay, right where the gulf comes in closer to the coast. it goes right through this pass. he wanted to put the rock jetties there, has been asking the federal government for more than a month, met with the president a month ago today to get approval and a permit. we heard from a guy who is sitting, waiting with barges full of limestone rock, came here from kentucky, has been sitting there for four days now, waiting to put this rock in the water. and now he tells us that the army corps of engineer has gone home for the holiday weekend. yeah. reporter: we ve tried to reach the army corps of engineer, no luck. all of our folks were calling them. does any of that surprise you? not really. everything is a wait and see. everything is epa, coast guard approval. it s obnoxious. this a whale, this big ship that comes into the
it s so big it has a nickname that goes along that gives you an idea of how big it is. reporter: a-whale, not as in like a whale, a as in a of whale, it s certainly is a whale of a ship. three football fields in length, ten stories from the water line to the top. monster of a ship and could be a major game changer. its that potential of collecting about 500,000 barrels per day. but this boat, which is actually brought in by tmt, a taiwanese company, is not ready just yet. it has to undergo some tests from the coast guard as well as text pa before it s allowed to go out there and start working. this is a potential to be a major game changer. think about being a mediocre running back on an nfl team. in terms of the amount of i recall barrels coming out from, again, at the very underwater, we re talking about the rate