If BP et al. wondered if there was any way the gargantuan oil spill could get worse, the latest crop of photos of beleaguered birds covered in oil and fighting for their lives prove it can.

AP photographer Charles Reidel took some truly disturbing photos of dead and dying pelicans around Grand Terre Isle, LA., which you can see on Newsweek.com. Oil has been gushing for 46 days now and there isn’t really an end in sight. BP CEO Tony Hayward said he just wants his life back, but we think these birds would like theirs too.