I was looking forward to visiting the wetlands after watching the movie “Hurricane on the Bayou” and to further learn of its importance.We reached there in the morning at about 9 and were instantly taken by its beauty. There was a store close by which housed a white alligator! This was the first time I had ever seen one. We boarded the boats and were given ear plugs to cut down the loud propeller noise .Our guide, Mr. Lou made our trip around even more interesting by telling us about the importance of the wetlands , the difference between marshes and swamps,etc. He patiently answered all our questions. We first went to the swamps with trees lining them. We were told there were many reasons for their fast depletion – digging for oil,etc.To learn about people volunteering to plant Christmas trees was also interesting .We also had the opportunity to get glimpses of Alligators –some of them as much as 10 feet long!
Then we were taken to see the treeless marshes and were explained their significance. We sighted a lot of birds and a particular type of fish which flipped outside periodically apparently to get its “oxygen fix!” The entire journey was not only enjoyable but greatly educational and a look at how the effects of human interference was degrading the wonderful environment drastically.
The trip was followed by a lecture by R. King Milling, DU Board of trustees on “Louisiana Wetlands and Economic Development”. This talk took us through first the general geography (for the geographically challenged as the speaker humorously put it:))on the general Geography of the MississippiBasin. We were then taken through the various landscapes, the various kinds of marshes (low salinity, salt marsh,etc) and were informed as to how these wetlands were instrumental in diminishing the strength of the Hurricanes.It was astonishing to learn that since 1930, two thousand square miles of wetlands had vanished. It was surprising to note that Levees and the navigation system had actually made the entire region more vulnerable to floods.We were told that some of the major ways to prevent further damage to the wetlands were to open levees periodically thereby replenishing the delta and protect navigation.Below is a picture of R.King Milling delivering the lecture.
This was followed by Dr. Amy Lesen session on the “Wetland Ecosystem” .She took us through the reasons for flooding, federal policies, environmental justice, etc.The session was interactive and was very well received.
Her session was followed by Dr. P.V. Sundareshwar’s (South Dakota School of Mines) session on the Wetland Ecosystem. He had an unbelievable command over the subject as he walked us through the more technical aspects of the importance of the wetlands to the entire ecological system and not only in the prevention of hurricanes. He took us through the Carbon Cycle, Photosynthesis, Respiration and then used the knowledge we had just gained to further explain the role of the wetlands in the source/sink aspects of the carbon cycle. We were also told about the types of wetlands and shown pictures on the wetlands from the various parts of the world.
Below is a picture of Dr.P.V. Sundereshwar speaking and Dr. Amy Lesen looking on:
After the sessions we were quite tired but wonderfully so and went straight for dinner satisfied with the amount of learning that had taken place in a day.
