An active spill off the Veracruz coast has coated over 373 miles of ocean, killing marine life and damaging 17 reefs while authorities deflect blame. 

The oil is still spilling. Crude slicks cover more than 373 miles of the Gulf of Mexico. The spill continues bleeding into seven distinct nature reserves off the Mexican coast.  

It’s coming from three separate sources. Satellite imagery and physical inspections confirm the leaks remain highly active. Navy Secretary Admiral Raymundo Morales stood before reporters on Thursday to detail the origins: a geological site five miles off the port of Coatzacoalcos, a natural seep in the Bay of Campeche, and a vessel docked right off the Veracruz coast.  

They still haven’t identified the ship. Authorities failed to inspect 13 vessels anchored in the immediate area when the slick first appeared in early March. If officials knew about the spill weeks ago, why weren’t those ships boarded before the crude spread? Nobody has answered that. Instead, Morales pointed to the natural seeps in the Bay of Campeche as one of the primary drivers of the crisis. Locals call the geological site near Coatzacoalcos a “chapopotera” — a natural tar seep.  

But natural seeps don’t explain the uninspected ships. And they don’t erase the weeks of mounting public controversy over how Mexico handled the disaster.  

The Mexican government officially ruled out “severe environmental damage.”  

The bodies washing ashore tell a different story.

The sludge has contaminated at least six species, according to Mexico’s environmental authorities. It killed sea turtles. It killed a manatee. It coated birds in thick oil. Fishermen are finding lifeless fish in their nets and on beaches across Veracruz and Tabasco.  

Oceana, an international ocean conservation group, tracked reports directly from the coastal communities bearing the brunt of the spill. They found the encroaching oil has already damaged 17 coral reefs. Local residents watched the slick expand for weeks before the government publicly addressed the scale of the contamination.  

Greenpeace Mexico didn’t mince words. In a blistering statement released this week, the organization accused authorities of treating the Gulf of Mexico as a “sacrifice zone for the oil industry.” They demanded the government stop the delays, communicate the actual risk to the public, and deploy resources to minimize the ecological fallout.  

What started as a localized alarm off the coasts of Veracruz and Tabasco has morphed into a sprawling environmental crisis. It now covers 600 kilometers of open water and protected habitats.  

The leak points remain open. Until authorities cap the flow, the death toll in the Gulf will only climb.