April 14, 2015 - Cat Island was once one of the four largest bird-nesting grounds in Louisiana. But the Deepwater Horizon oil spill killed the mangroves growing there, destroying the root system that held the island 's sediment in place. Since 2010, the 5.5 acre island has been washing away into the Gulf of Mexico, and migratory birds find their home disappearing before their eyes.



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"Scientists tracking Gulf sparrows, insects, and seabirds try to unravel the mysteries of a landscape changed by oil."

was once one of the four largest bird-nesting grounds in Louisiana. But theoil spill killed the mangroves growing there, destroying the root system that held the's sediment in place. Since 2010, the 5.5 acrehas been washing away into the Gulf of Mexico, and migratory birds find their home disappearing before their eyes.Click here to read more:

Doug Meffert, Executive Director Audubon Louisiana:

Cat Island was actually one of the four largest Rookeries in Louisiana for Brown pelicans, snowy egrets, roseate spoonbills, least terns and a variety of other shorebirds.



And now it’s just a fragile remnant of what it once was.



P. J. Hahn, Former Coastal Zone Director, Plaquemines Parish Government:

In 2010, prior to the oil spill this was a pristine island with 8-foot mangroves. It was roughly around 5.5- almost 6 acres. This was ideal nesting ground for migratory birds in the wintertime looking for places to nest for the spring.



The oil spill hit and these little islands were here to greet the oil.



Natalie Peyronnin, Director of Science Policy, Environmental Defense Fund:

The oil comes in; it kills the mangroves, which then kills the root system. And the roots are what’s holding together this island. Without that root system holding together the sediment, it just erodes away.



In just five years we’ve seen this island almost disappear and probably by the next anniversary this island will be gone.



P. J. Hahn, Former Coastal Zone Director, Plaquemines Parish Government:

The U.S. Wildlife and Fishery Studies show, that chicks when they’re born will imprint to these islands. So every year they return to the same place they born to breed and nest again.



The study also shows that when the birds come back here, if the island is gone, they don’t go off and breed somewhere else, they just don’t breed. So we’re losing generation after generation of birds.



Natalie Peyronnin, Director of Science Policy, Environmental Defense Fund:

This is essentially one of the longest running environmental disasters in the US.



Five years later, oil is still coming ashore her and will continue to come ashore here as scientists have found immense tar balls and oil still remaining at the bottom of the gulf. Ultimately what this means down the road we don’t know.



We know when the oil spill hit, in the first 95 days, over 800,000 birds perished. What does that mean for the long-term stability of those populations?



P. J. Hahn, Former Coastal Zone Director, Plaquemines Parish Government:

We even had some rare and endangered birds that were actually nesting out here and today, nothing. They’re all gone.



Natalie Peyronnin, Director of Science Policy, Environmental Defense Fund:

There is an effort to restore this island and bring the sediment back and the mangroves back.



So if we don’t start doing restoration now in environments that were oiled, the harder that’s going to be. It’s going to take more resources, more money to build back what was there before the oil spill.



Doug Meffert, Executive Director Audubon Louisiana:

Having this loss from sea level rise, from natural erosion and to be exacerbated by the BP Oil Spill, to me it really is in a way the canary in the coal mine for the habitats that are going to be threatened in the next couple of decades.

