They did multiple things to help the matter. They took all the living and dead creatures out of the oily water. They also cleaned the living animals with dawn soap to get the oil off. They finally got the leaked stopped on July 15, 2010, after it was flowing consistently since April 20, 2010. The BP used dumped 1.8 million gallons of chemical dispersants into the Gulf of Mexico to displace the oil to make it easier to clean up.
Hope this helps ya.
