Last Day in the Delta. Venice, LA

Some things are very subtle in the Delta.  See if you can find the yearling alligator in this photo.  We took an afternoon to go birding in Venice at the current edge of the delta in mostly fresh water. It is a major fishing, shrimping, and birding location and of course oil refining area as well.

Finally Have Seen the Real Mississippi Delta

I have finally seen the real MS Delta.  It is located due east of New Orleans 40 to 60 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico and south of the state of Mississippi.  The sediment was deposited very long ago when the main branch of the Mississippi River headed way north and east of where it is going today.  Yes the mouth of the MS River has moved all over the place. You would think that if you traveled farther into the Gulf of Mexico it would become deeper but not in this case it gets shallower around +1 to 7 ft deep in the tidal creeks.  It is a complete spartina estuarine marsh. It looks like the Everglades without the freshwater, tree islands and the wet and dry seasons.  It is a Georgia salt water marsh but  a million times larger in an area of the Gulf of Mexico that should 100 ft deep but you can get out of your boat and walk on it.  We saw 55 loons in 4 hours a record for us. It may have been the first census of loons in this area maybe ever but that is not all. We saw, white pelicans, rails, tricolor herons, marsh hawks by the dozens, willettes by the hundreds, dolphins, fish, and grebes and more.

Third Q & A

Question 3 of Kristen Kusek (Directore of Scientific and Public Outreach of Earthwatch Institute and Dr. Jim Paruk (Director of BRI's Center for Loon Conservation)

Kristen: QWhat are you most excited about?

> Dr. Paruk A:  
As you generate new questions you weren't prepared for - and
> that's always the exciting thing in science.
> We need 'seeing eyes' - which is how the volunteers will contribute and
> be a part of it. My experience with Earthwatch in the past is that your
> volunteers are knowledgeable, bright, caring people who want to
> contribute.  They often make great suggestions, and they bring their
> energy and enthusiasm to the project that keeps me going.  (Note: Dr.
> Paruk led another loon project between 1993 and 1996.  It took place on
> a lake in northern Wisconsin.)
>

Selected Views of Life on the Delta

 The Sprawling 12 room house we Earth Watchers call home, research lab and learning center.

 This is the top of the levee that keeps the Mississippi River to the right of the line of trees out of the strip of land at ground zero of the eye of hurricane Katrina at Port Sulfur and Empire, Louisiana in the delta. Levee is around 12 ft high and 20 ft of water came over this levee and made one giant wet land for a couple of weeks. This strip of land is the only land left in this area of the Delta.

 The Delta is part of the Wintering grounds of this juvenile loon which hatched out of a nest somewhere in northern US or most likely Canada. This is some of the first work done on these wintering loons which are flying 1500 to 2000 miles back to their birth place in the next few weeks.  It will be a couple more years for this bird to find a mate and nest.

 This is what remains of the Delta which were just a few years ago Spartina (emergent vegetation) wetlands. Only a few islands of Spartina sp. remain. Water depth is 3-4 feet here. The boat is an oyster boat. The pvc pipes sticking out of the ground indicate artificial oyster beds which are being harvested. The loons dive this water all day long for fish, crabs, shrimp and who knows what. This is new study work.

The sediment from the Mississippi River about 3 miles to the right behind the levee and locks brings sediment to the Delta.  There isn't enough sediment to maintain the bottom of this huge delta to allow the spartina to emerge from the bottom. The sediment is many feet thick weighing down upon itself squeezing out the water between the particles of soil from the Midwest US river systems. The squeezing out of the water compacts the sediment and it sinks below the surface of this Gulf of Mexico water or in relative terms the sea level is rising in comparison to the land.  Oil from the Gulf of Mexico moved into all of this watery ecosystem and interacted with every living thing. Current research is trying to access the effects. It will take years to determine the effects. Dolphins were reported by NOAA to be very ill in a report released yesterday.  http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/03/dolphins_in_barataria_bay_poll.html 

The preparation before the capture of the first loon. Good look at the giant dip net.  Here is the next episode with the Q & A with Kristen Kusek of Earthwatch and Dr. Jim Paruk, Director of BRI's Center for Loon Conservation:


> Q: Why did you want to start this project with Earthwatch, and why
> should people care about it?
> A:  I was sickened by the oil spill in the Gulf when it happened; I
> think we all were.  I just wanted to do something. And for me, being a
> loon biologist, this is how I could get involved.  The expedition offers
> people all over the world the chance to get involved now through
> Earthwatch.  I'm also looking forward to networking with other
> scientists down there so we can hopefully put a story together about how
> the Gulf ecosystem is faring since the spill.  That way, people know
> that we're out there paying attention, and providing assurance and
> accountability.

The First Loon

Loons!  Loons dead ahead. Keep your light on the loon. The boat creeps up on the blinded adult loon paddling back and forth in the turbid dark waters of the submerging delta.  Steadily ahead Darwin at the ready with a 12 foot giant fish net big enough to hold the largest loon. Closer, the loon is almost frantic, moving trapped in this blinding million watt light being held over the bow of our 24 foot open cockpit research boat. Deftly maneuvering at the zig zagging loon with the deep red eyes white and black z patterned neck is impossible to corral.  Water is shallow in the lee of this spartina island. Now seven feet away, Darwin swings the giant dip net downward on top of the loon. A miss. It escapes, dives down to escape but hits bottom and quickly pops up alongside the boat. Darwin backhands the long cumbersome dip net and snags the loon and swoops the dripping loon into the boat and I grab the open end of the dip net with the ensnared loon looking at me in the bottom of the net. I am sure this male adult loon was thinking that I was just sleeping for the night in the wave free lee of this island all by myself just like I like it now I am the hands of aliens.

Kristen Kusek Q & A with Jim Paruk Ph.D.

This is a very special reprint of a Q & A of Kristen Kusek from Earth Watch and Dr. Jim Paruk our loon expert on the Delta.

 Dr. Jim Paruk 
 > Director of Center for Loon Conservation
> BioDiversity Research Institute
>
Kristen M. Kusek
Director of Scientific and Public Outreach
Earthwatch Institute
114 Western Ave, Boston, MA 02134
T: 978-450-1281 | www.earthwatch.org | Skype name: kristenk35

> Q: You've studied loons for nearly 20 years.  Would  you say you are
> passionate about them?
> A: Absolutely.  To me, loons embody the essence of "wilderness."   They
> have a lot of spunk, and in contrast to say a goose or a swan that eat
> mostly plants, loons are hunters; they are apex predators.  It's a tough
> life being at the top of the food chain. My spirit is drawn to those
> aspects of a loon that symbolize wilderness, independence and freedom.


Next Question and Answer will be coming next. 


Loon Fact:
Loons are on the most highly evolved end of all birds.  They are related to penguins, albatrosses and petrels.