COVINGTON, La. (AP) - BP says it siphoned more oil with a mile-long tube after two days of falling totals from a leaking seafloor well in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP PLC spokesman John Curry told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the tube collected some 256,200 gallons of oil on Monday. The collections were further evidence that a previous estimate of the underwater spill is too low.

Federal officials and BP have said that at least 210,000 gallons a day were gushing from the blown-out well. But Monday's total was well above that amount and live video from the wellhead showed that some oil was still escaping.

A federal task force is gathering independent data to estimate how much oil is gushing from the well.