weather. from high above, there s little activity. high seas suspended all skimming and controlled burn operations. the weather holds the upper hand in this response. if not the daily flow, it s the weather that adds to the difficulty. reporter: at the spill site, testing is being done on a converted super tanker dubbed the a whale. if green lighted it could suck up to 2 1 million gallons of oily water a day. looking at any and all possible alternate technologies we ll flil ovy over the a whal a trial and error operation but assess the effectiveness of that. reporter: hurricane alex forced a delay of a third containment ship at the spill scene. it s expected to come on line this week, something that is desperately needed. with all three systems operating at the peak rate will move between 50,000 and 53,000 barrels per day. reporter: bp s ceo bob dudley