Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) compares the oil in the gulf to a decay-preventing dentifrice:

Barbour described the oil as “weathered, emulsified, caramel-colored mousse, like the food mousse.” “Once it gets to this stage, it’s not poisonous,” Barbour said. “But if a small animal got coated enough with it, it could smother it. But if you got enough toothpaste on you, you couldn’t breathe.”

Yeah, I can see that:

A shorebird covered in “toothpaste.”
No wonder BP is doing everything it can, including harassing photographers, to preventing these pictures from getting out.