What happens when you take the BP oil disaster and combine it with Google maps? You can get a better idea of exactly how large the spill is. Consider, for a moment, if you centered the spill on the tiny town of Waco, GA. Why Waco, GA? Simple. Because the oil spill would then extend to the west to Birmingham, AL, to the east to Atlanta, GA, and to the north to Chattanooga, TN. Now you have an accurate idea of how large the oil disaster is.
But on what day? This is a dated estimate of the spill extent. Paul Rademacher, who made the first oil spill overlay, updates the geographic extent of the spill almost everyday. Check out his overlay: http://paulrademacher.com/oilspill/