While the nation focuses on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, weather experts warn there’s a greater threat headed for the Gulf — a hurricane season that’s expected to be more active than normal.

The “top killing” began Wednesday afternoon — a procedure BP hopes will finally plug the open well that has leaked at least 7 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for more than a month. Mud and cement are being pumped into the well to stop the flow of oil and possibly seal the leak.

Nearly 40 oyster fishermen met Tuesday with state officials, lawyers and a representative from an oyster crop insurance company at the University of New Orleans to discuss how the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has impacted their industry.

After contentious debate between the Environmental Protection Agency and BP regarding its use of a particular dispersant in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has agreed to lessen the amount it is using to help clean up the massive oil spill. BP will cut back its use of the dispersant Corexit, which it has been spraying in the Gulf, by 50 to 75 percent.

After flying over the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, two Cabinet officials joined Gov. Bobby Jindal in angry criticism of BP for failing to stop the ongoing spill and said the government was considering taking emergency measures to prevent oil from reaching Louisiana’s fragile wetlands.

Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, and Ken Salazar, the interior secretary, expressed their frustration with BP. They were accompanied by Louisiana’s two U.S. senators.

Federal officials said on Friday that they have found 60 birds and 186 sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico that they believe are victims of the oil spill crisis, according to The Associated Press.

Visitors to the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium in Cocodrie on Friday received more than an education about the marine research center. They also got to hear the state’s governor explain why they could not go to a popular nearby beach.

For the first time in its 63-year history, the Golden Meadow Fourchon International Tarpon Rodeo, scheduled for July 1 to 3, has been canceled. Though it’s still a month away, it has become a victim of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has closed fishing grounds and put hundreds out of work in the seafood industry.

Gov. Bobby Jindal is pushing for the creation of barrier islands to protect the delicate marshlands from oil creeping towards the Louisiana coast, but environmentalists said Wednesday that they doubt the plan will work.