Scientists have spent a decade researching the impact of the oil spill, one of the largest environmental disasters in US history, on marine life in the Gulf 

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in 2010 ( Getty )

A decade after the explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig caused 4.9m barrels of oil to spill into the Gulf of Mexico, marine scientists have found that fish in the region are still affected from the disaster.

On 20 April, 2010, a methane explosion on the rig caused it to catch fire and sink, around 40 miles from the Louisiana coastline. Eleven workers died and 17 others were injured in what became one of the largest environmental disasters in US history.

The impact on marine life was devastating. The toxic spill effected thousands of species from plankton to dolphins causing death and a range of consequences like impaired reproduction, reduced growth, lesions…