Preparing to board the Acadiana for our trip into Timbalier Bay.
On board the Acadiana. (l to r): Christina, Melanie, and Aurora are talking to Scott.
Some of the vessel traffic serving the offshore oil industry.
Preparing to begin sampling. Chris Salmonsen (with his back to camera) was our guide on this trip.
Chris preparing to take sediment samples from the bottom of the bay.
Examining sediments for worms and brittle starfish.
Chris showing the students some of the fauna from the bottom of the bay.
On Saturday evening Chris took us to the lab at LUMCON where we discussed hypoxia and the Dead Zone. He then showed us the plankton in water we had collected that afternoon.
Even field trips are an opportunity to learn and study.
Marcella and Brookes prepare water samples to examine under the microscopes.
Deb (in foreground) and Liz examine plankton.
The variety of planktonic fauna and flora is amazing. We spent the good part of an hour looking at plankton and trying to classify the organisms that we could see.
On Sunday morning we visited the Pointe aux Chiens wildlife refuge near Montegut. Here the group is walking towards the salt marsh overlook.
Along the way we saw this crawfish chimney and stopped for photographs.
We also stopped to pick blackberries.
Sunday was the blessing of the fleet up and down Bayou Petite Caillou. The boats commenced their parade at the Catholic Church at Chauvin and then proceed down the bayou. We didn't have time to see the parade. The boats were decked out in their finest for this important event.
Another shot of the Great Lady, which was probably the lead boat in the parade.
While not all the boats were as big or fancy as Great lady, most everyone was dressed for the occassion.
While we couldn't stay for the parade we did take time for a picnic on the banks of Bayou Petite Caillou. Afterwards we returned home to New Orleans.