U.S. fights to protect shore from massive oil spill

VENICE, La. (Reuters) - A huge spreading oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico washed up to coastal Louisiana wildlife and seafood areas on Friday and the U.S. government and military struggled to avert what could become one of the nation's worst ecological disasters.

With leading edges of the slick lapping up to outlying marshes and waterways on the fringes of the Mississippi Delta, the Coast Guard deployed protective equipment called booms along the coast in a bid to stop oil from soiling the shore.