The first tropical depression of the summer has formed in the western Caribbean, but it's not clear yet whether it posses a threat to the enormous cleanup effort underway in the Gulf of Mexico.
The depression is located off the coast of Honduras and is carrying winds of 55 kilometres per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Forecasters expect it could travel over the Yucatan peninsula in southeastern Mexico on Saturday before heading into the Gulf.
"It could move into a (category) two, three or four, hurricane by the time it gets there," said U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen.
It's too early to say whether the weather system will strike the northeastern region of the Gulf, where thousands of workers are fighting to contain a 10-week old oil spill, the largest in U.S. history. And a tropical depression is less powerful than a tropical storm, which is a step down from a full-fledged hurricane.
Still, the storm has raised concerns about how efforts to control the spill will be affected if BP has to abandon the cleanup operation due to poor weather.
"At some point, we're going to have to break production and take those units to a safer locale," Allen added.
A cap has been siphoning off oil from the blown-out undersea well, but that would likely have to be removed temporarily in the event of a hurricane, leaving the oil to once again gush freely into the sea for as long as two weeks.
A tropical storm could also damage hundreds of kilometres of boom, which has been put in place to contain some of the oil. Two relief wells are being drilled but won't be completed until August, well into hurricane season.
It's also difficult to predict how powerful storms may affect oil floating in the water. It's possible that high winds could push even more of the oil slick towards the south coast of the U.S.
Meanwhile, the devastation of habitat and wildlife of the Gulf continues uninterrupted, with turtles, dolphins and many other species washing up dead on shore.
"What we're really witnessing may be a shift in the whole ecosystem," said Bob Shipp, director of marine biology at the University Southern Alabama.
As much as 500 million litres of crude may have spilled into Gulf waters since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers.
Two hurricanes are also swirling above the Pacific Ocean, but currently they're not expected to make a serious impact on land.
With files from CTV's Danielle Hamamdjian and The Associated Press
