Five years ago, the Deepwater Horizon disaster spewed out some 134 million gallons of oil, soiling 1,000 miles of Gulf of Mexico coastline. On Thursday, BP agreed to pay an $18.7 billion settlement that will help repair the damage from the televised spill that began April 20 and ended July 15, 2010.

Environmentalists suggest it could take decades to determine the extent of the damage. Here's some imagery of the spill's immediate aftermath:

Listing image by Globovisión