horizon site in the gulf of mexico, pilots began spotting oil miles offshore. the closer they got to the damaged well, the more oil they saw. i didn t see any until we were probably about 30 or 40 miles offshore, and then we started seeing some of the stuff, the emulsified below the water, and now the closer we get, the more surface oil that we ve seen. reporter: even with the well capped now, millions of gallons of oil are still in the water, drifting with the winds and currents. in some areas there are long streaks of oil. elsewhere there are miles and miles of sheen. it s starting to turn brownish. reporter: every day these planes fly over the oil slicks out on the gulf and close to shore, directing skimmer boats, alerting officials about where the oil is headed next. all along coastal alabama, some of that oil headed right for the beach, washing in with the tide. clean-up crews are using a variety of methods to try to