http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2011/03/marsh_madness_bob_marshalls_an.html Question: What comes to mind when - just as the azaleas start to bloom -- you read about sac-a-lait upsetting the pole d'eau, about brackets being busted when the gasergou knock off the choupique, about the dizzying excitement when the spartina alternaflora go two overtimes against the cockahoes only to get nipped by the gros becs as thousands of white boots celebrate? A: Marsh Madness -- what else? That's right, it's time once again for the the Big Dance on the Bayou, that usually every-year competition offered by The Times-Picayune that separates the dos gris from the greenheads -- or for the benefit of you newly arrived residents of the delta -- the real marsh people from those behind-the-levee posers. We offer 50 questions that test your marsh wisdom, a challenge more significant than anything happening on the hardwoods this month. As always, we've updated the questions with the latest confirmed knowledge about the great wetlands of Southeast Louisiana, that ecosystem that provides the platform for our unique culture as well as any hope we have for surviving here in the future. This year, we've mixed in some information that surfaced during recent news events. Don't forget that in multiple-choice questions, there can be more than one answer. And we're sticking with the traditional scoring system: Score better than 85 percent (43 out of 50), and you can add "eaux" to your last name. Score between 84 and 75 percent (42 to 38 correct), and you can keep your white boots. Finish below 75 percent (37 or fewer correct), and your friends get to call you a Texan! 1. The largest expanse of coastal wetlands in the continental United States is in: A: Chesapeake Bay B: Alaska C: Louisiana D: California 2. How many square miles of those wetlands have been lost since the 1930s: A: 1,000 B: 2,300 C: 200 3. Louisiana continues to lose coastal wetlands at the cumulative rate of: A: 24 square miles per year B: A football field every 45 minutes C: It isn't losing wetlands anymore D: 10.3 square miles per year 4. The deadline for restoring many of the wetlands around New Orleans before the loss becomes insurmountable is: A: 30 years B: 120 years C: Seven years D: Last year. 5. Repairing Louisiana's coast is strictly a state and local problem. True False 6. Match the Cajun name to the common scientific name: A: Dos Gris B: Sac-a-lait C: Pole d'eau D: Gaspergou E: Cowan F: Gros bec G: Choupique 1. Snapping turtle 2. Yellow-crowned night heron 3. Scaup 4. Crappie 5. Bowfin 6. Freshwater drum 7. Coot 7. The state office created to lead the coastal restoration effort is called: A: Useless B: Often C: Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana. 8. The gender of an alligator is determined by: A: The Y chromosome B: Amount of sunlight C: Age of the father D: Temperature during egg development. 9. Which part of the United States faces the greater threat from global warming? A: Southeast Louisiana B: Southern Florida C: Alaska D: Crawford, Texas 10. The major causes of Louisiana's rapid coastal land loss in the past 70 years have been: A: Hurricanes B: Oil and gas industry C: Nutria D: Levees 11. Catfish taste: A: With their mouth B: With their skin C: With their whiskers D: Good when fried. 12 How many miles of shoreline were oiled by the Deepwater Horizon blowout? A: 700 B: 400 C: Enough 13. How many species of fish can be found in Louisiana's coastal zone? A: 17 B: 585 C: 112 D: 88 14. More oil comes into the United States across Louisiana's coastal wetlands than through the Alaska Pipeline. True False 15. What percent of Louisiana anglers harvested a limit of specks? A: 25 B: 2 C: 15 D: 5 16. The most effective hurricane protection for New Orleanians is: A: A home in Colorado B: A fast car C: Brownie D: Swamps 17. How many oil spills are reported in Louisiana each year: A: 100 B: 1,000 C: 400 D: 4,000 18. Louisiana's surviving coastal wetlands are twice as large as Florida's Everglades. True False 19. The favorite food of speckled trout is: A: Shrimp B: Popeye's two-piece white meat, mild C: pogies D: muffaletta 20. The nation should pay for repairing our coast because: A: The nation erected the levees and dredged many of the shipping channels that caused the deltas to die. B: The energy development that helped destroy our coast benefited the entire nation. C: Damages to industry that would result from doing nothing would be a severe blow to the economies of dozens of states that depend on our ports. D: The state cannot afford the cost alone. E: All of the above 21. The average length of speckled trout "kept" by Louisiana anglers is: A: 12.1 inches B: 13.3 inches C: 14.2 inches D: 10 inches 22. How many speckled trout are taken home by Louisiana anglers each year? A: Enough B: 3 million C: 10 million D: Too many 23. The average redfish harvested in Louisiana was: A: 28 inches long B: 16.5 inches long C: 20 inches long D. Lucky 24. Dams and other development north of New Orleans has reduced the sediment load in the Mississippi River by: A: 20 percent B: 50 percent C: 66 percent 25. Which of the following mammals has never been native to the Lake Pontchartrain basin: A: Elk B: Bison C: Dolphin D: Grizzly bear E: Antelope 26. Scientists think we can rebuild all or most of the coastal wetlands lost since the 1930s. True. False. 27. The biggest fish living in the marsh is: A: Black drum B: Alligator gar C: Dolphin 28. The state fish is: A: Largemouth bass B: Crappie C: Blackened redfish D: Trout meuniere 29. The average weight of a speckled trout kept by Louisiana anglers is: A: .75 pounds B: 2.1 pounds C: 1.1 pounds 30. The first migrating duck to arrive in Louisiana each year is: A: Suicidal B: Blue-winged teal C: Pintail D: Daffy 31. The last ducks to return north are: A: Lazy B: Blue-winged teal C: Widgeon D: Slow 32. Bayou Terre aux Beoufs was named for: A: Cattle B: A carnival krewe C: Buffalo D: A man's family 33. The state reptile is a: A: Lawyer B: King snake C: Alligator D: Insurance adjuster 34. The number of miles of canals dredged across Louisiana's coastal wetlands since the 1930s is: A: More than 10,000 B: Less than 5,000 C: Less than 1,200 35. Which species belong to these nicknames? A: Rat and bull B: Cigar C: Doormat D: Mule E: Green trout 36. The "dead zone" is: A: The Saints pass rush B: Congress C: An area of low oxygen in the Gulf of Mexico 37. What percent of anglers caught a limit of reds in 2005? A: 50 B: 10 C: 13 D: 5 38. Which of the following mammals are found in local estuaries: A: Mink B: Otter C: Coyotes D: Deer 39. Louisiana's coast is only losing land: True False 40. The biggest fish weighed at a Louisiana marina and caught on rod and reel was: A: Yellowfin tuna B: Blue marlin C: Bluefin tuna 41. The average size of a redfish kept by Louisiana anglers is: A: 2.3 pounds B: 12.2 pounds C: 4.1 pounds 42. Speckled trout begin migrating to spawning areas when the water temperature is: A: 65 degrees B: 55 degrees C: 70 degrees D: 75 degrees 43. Of the 2 million eggs a female blue claw crab typically produces, how many usually survive? A) 50 B) 2 C) 127 D) 500 44. Ducks seldom leave the coast after arriving in the fall: True False 45. The oldest-lived fish in the coastal marsh is: A: Black drum B: Alligator gar C: Lionel Serigne D: Manta ray 46. Which part of the marsh ecosystem produces the most biomass: A: The water B: The grass C: Cypress swamps D: The top layer of the soil 47. How many redfish did Louisiana anglers harvest in 2010? A: 2.66 million B: 1.5 million C: 879,000 48. How many specks did Louisiana anglers harvest in 2010 A: 7.3 million B: 1 million C: 9.36 million 49. During the peak May-September spawning season, speckled trout spawn: A: Twice B: Six times C: Continuously D: Once 50. What is the largest mammal found in Louisiana estuaries? A: Dolphins B: Manatees C: Killer whales D. Frank Davis Answers ANSWERS 1: C. According to federal figures, 40 percent of the wetlands left in the continental United States -- more than 6,800 square miles -- are in Louisiana, far more than any other state. 2: B. State and federal studies show that since 1932, more than 2,300 square miles -- over 2 million acres -- were lost, fully one-third of what existed in 1900, an area the size of the state of Delaware. 3: A and B. The rate has dropped dramatically since the 1970s because there is less to lose and there is less oil and gas exploration today. However, that football field every 45 minutes remains a death sentence for much of southeast Louisiana. 4: C. In 2007, coastal scientists said if the state was not actively building land in the basins around New Orleans within 10 years, some areas of open water would be so large and deep it would be too expensive to fix. 5: False. The state's coastal wetlands nourish and protect huge industries that serve all Americans. Twenty-seven percent of America's oil and 30 percent of its gas travels through the state's coast, serving half of the nation's refinery capacity, an infrastructure that few other states would welcome and that would take years to relocate. Ports on the river from Venice to LaPlace handle 56 percent of the nation's grain shipments. And the estuaries now rapidly turning to open water produce half of the nation's wild shrimp crop and about half its oysters and a third of its blue claw crabs. Studies show destruction of the wetlands protecting those industries would put $103 billion in assets at risk. 6: A-3; B-4; C-7; D-6; E-1; F-2; G-5. 7: C. You can get the latest on its progress at http://www.lacpra.org/. 8: D. 9: A. While the International Panel on Climate Change predicts most of the U.S. coast line will see an 18-inch rise in sea level due to global warming by the end of the century, the estimate for areas surrounding New Orleans is 3 to 6 feet. The difference is subsidence -- the starving river deltas that make up southeast Louisiana will continue sinking at one of the fastest rates in the world as sea-level rise accelerates due to warming water and the melting of glaciers and sheet ice. (See the TP animation and graphics at http://blog.nola.com/graphics/2008/12/SinkingLand.swf). 10: D-B-C and A -- in that order. Levee construction on the river set the process in motion by preventing sediment from replenishing the deltas. But LSU scientists say if that is all we had done, the coast would have been in good shape for another 1,000 years. Canal dredging for oil and gas companies compressed that time frame into 70 years, they said. In fact, according to an EPA report (Saving Louisiana's Coastal Wetlands, The Need for a Long-term Plan of Action), by 1987 canals represented 2.5 percent of the total coastal surface area of our coast, and that as much as 90 percent of all landloss could be linked to canals of all kinds. Meanwhile, hurricanes take occassional chunks, and nutria are still literally eating us out of house and home. 11: A, B, C, D. Trick question No. 2. Taste buds cover every part of a catfish's exterior. And, yes, they do taste good when fried. 12: A. Gov. Bobby Jindal recently put that figure at 700 miles, with 370 miles still showing oil as late as this month. Of course, this was before the latest leak from West Delta 117. 13: B. OK, this is a trick question. Ecologists claim a "coastal zone" can extend to offshore waters, and LSU ichthyologists say it's likely that almost all of the species known to occur in the Gulf of Mexico -- between 585 to 600 -- will at some time be found in that area. 14: True. 15: D. This is from 2007, the last year for which complete fishery data is currently available. 16: D. While marshes have rightly been described as "linear levees," wooded wetlands provide more surge protection because they can knock down both waves and wind, scientists say. 17: D. That figure, the highest in the nation, is for spills of all kinds reported to the U.S. Coast Guard, and includes everything from relatively harmless cooking oil dumped from rigs to serious events like the Deepwater Horizon. 18: True. 19: C. State research shows small fish make up 60 percent of the specks' diet, with menhaden ("pogies") the most common species in the mix. Brown shrimp make up about 7 percent of the diet. 20: E. 21: C. 22: C. That's the average since 2006, which was a record 13 million, to last year's recent low of 7 million, a drop related to the oil spill closures. 23: C. 24: C. That figure is from the federal government. Not surprising since there are more than 40,000 dams, locks and other structures on the Mississippi drainage now blocking that sediment from reaching us, and dramtically reducing the raw material needed to rebuild our wetlands. 25: E. All but antelope were abundant when the first Europeans settled here in the 1700s. 26: False. Even if we had the time and money, the river no longer caries enough sediment to rebuild the 2,300 square miles of coastal wetlands we have lost. 27: B. Alligator gars commonly reach 150 pounds. Tarpon can top 200 pounds, but they are not year-round residents, only seasonal visitors. And dolphins are not fish. 28: B. AKA - sac-a-lait. 29: C. 30: B. Bluewings show up around mid-August, followed shortly by spoonbills and pintails. Mid-October usually brings the first flights of gadwall, widgeon and green-winged teal. Mallards and divers show up last, their arrivals largely dependent on what the weather is doing to the north. 31: B. Bluewings that winter in Mexico don't arrive in our marshes until March, where they rest and stage before moving northward. Every year some bluewings decide to nest on our coast and never go back north. 32: C. Historians say the first French settlers called the distributary of the Mississippi that winds southward through St. Bernard Parish Bayou Terre aux Beoufs Sauvage -- Land of Wild Cattle, which is the name they gave to buffalo. 33: C. 34: A. Permits for dredging in wetlands were not required by the federal government until the 1970s, and some coastal experts suspect the miles dredged before that time might be another 10,000. Most of that has been for oil and gas exploration and pipelines serving the nation's thirst for energy, but equally damaging canals have been dredged for shipping. 35: A, redfish; B and D, speckled trout; C, flounder; E, largemouth bass. 36: C. 37: D. 38: Another trick question. A, B, C, D. Mink, otter and deer are natives while coyotes migrated into the region during the last half of the 20th century, are now found in swamps and marshes. 39: False. We actually are gaining land at the mouth of the Atchafalaya River, where there are no levees to prevent over-bank flooding and sediment deposition. This is the process that needs to be re-established along the Mississippi River. 40: C. A bluefin tuna caught by Ron Roland 30 miles south of South Pass on May 25, 2003, weighed 1,152 pounds. 41: C. 42: C. 70 degrees seems to be the key temperature that spurs specks to move from their deep winter locations to spawning spots in the larger coastal bays. 43: B. The crab has adapted to a highly competitive environment by mass producing eggs. 44: False. Studies have shown that weather events and habitat conditions, including hunting pressure, can prompt some species to travel as far as Arkansas in a day. 45: A. Black drum commonly live to 70 years, and alligator gar seem to peak at 55. Of course, Serigne passed that mark more than a decade ago. 46: D. LSU researchers say a wafer-thin top layer of the marsh mud -- barely seven hundredths of an inch thick -- containing microrganisms such as aglae are critical to fully half of all production in the estuaries. 47: A. 48: C. 49: C. Specks spawn repeatedly when water conditions are right. The species is known as "batch" spawners, which means some portion of them are spawning at any time during the season. Like crabs, they have successfully adapted to a very competitive environment. 50: B. Although rarely sighted, manatees do migrate through portions of the Lake Pontchartrain basin almost every year and can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. Dolphins are easily the most common large mammals found in the local ecosystem, typically weighing between 300 and 500 pounds. Whale sharks and whales, which cruise in the deep Gulf, are not found in the coastal system. Joe Bourgeois may be the kingfish of Barataria, but he doesn't measure up in this category ================================================ Fishing reduces stress and gives you a break from our modern world where everything is going a million miles per hour 73 Check & Clear 6 LOC: 38-54-14.60N / 097-14-09.07W |
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