- generation cajun, timmy couvillion grew up on the louisiana delta, where river mingles with sea. t, he moonlighted as a fishing captain. >> couvillion: i've caught, you know, 150-pound tunas this close. >> wertheim: he showed us the precise site of a ground- breaking contraption that's consumed him lately. we're right above it now, aren't we? >> couvillion: yes, sir. the taylor energy platform would be laying on its side, just below us. >> wertheim: his engineering company has conceived of and installed a system to help contain a stubborn oil spill. it's directly below this spot, nearly 500 feet underwater. >> couvillion: if we didn't have g.p.s. coordinates, we wouldn't know that we had a functioning system that was actively collecting 1,000 gallons of oil a day. >> wertheim: catch that? an average of 1,000 gallons of oil a day, that would otherwise be contaminating the gulf of mexico. it's being captured by timmy couvillion's system and transferred to these tanks to be sold later as recycled oil. >> couvillon: 100,000 gallons is a major oil spill. this is seven major oil spills