QUEEN BESS ISLAND, La. (CN) — Nearly wiped out by agricultural pesticides in the 1950s, Louisiana’s state bird the brown pelican has made a tremendous comeback. Now, thanks to 150,000 cubic yards of Mississippi River sand and help from $18.7 million of BP’s multibillion-dollar settlement for the catastrophic oil spill a decade ago, one of the pelicans’ essential nesting grounds is also coming back.
When the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig caught fire and sank April 20, 2010, killing 11 people and pumping at least 100,000 gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for the next 87 days, the disaster lobbed tar balls and oil onto the already dwindling Queen Bess Island, 3 miles offshore from Grand Isle and 45 miles from New Orleans. The oil spill came as a final injury after decades of coastal erosion had reduced the island to a mere skeleton, reducing its 45 acres in 1956 to just 5 in 2010.
Thousands of birds and pelicans were covered in oil and tar during the oil spill, and an estimated 1,000 pelicans died as a direct result of the disaster.
This week, Queen Bess Island will reopen for birds at a restored 36 acres.
Construction on the island is wrapping up and the result is “nesting habitat for the next 20 years,” said Todd Baker, the biologist supervising restoration work for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Baker said the restoration was designed with sea-level rise in mind. Much of the sand that was brought to the island by barge was used to elevate the island.
“A bird cannot have a nest that will go underwater,” Baker said.
The island is the fourth-largest brown pelican rookery in Louisiana and supports 15% to 20% of the state’s pelican nests. It is also a critical nesting habitat for at least eight other species of water birds, including tricolored herons, great egrets, roseate spoonbills and royal terns.
“If we build something that is the proper elevation now, it will change in 20 years. So what we’ve done with this project is we’ve built some habitat at a higher elevation, so that the island will be resilient for the next 20-30 years,” Baker said.
Restoration of Queen Bess Island involved enhancing a rock ring around the island to protect and maintain the sand fill that raised the island. A set of rock breakwaters just offshore of the southwestern side of the island create a lagoon-style nursery that will help young birds learn how to swim, preen and feed.
Highest is the southwestern side, roughly 4 feet above sea level and gently sloping toward the northeast, where intertidal marsh elevations and an enhanced tidal exchange gap will host black mangroves and other fish and wildlife habitat. A nearby breakwater is intended to reduce wave-driven erosion through the gap.
Small limestone meant to resemble tiny shells will work as nesting habitat for birds that prefer to nest on the bare ground and also serve as ramps to be placed around the island to provide young birds with access to the water.
“We’ve restored the footprint of the island,” Baker said. “The result is good nesting habitat today and into the future.”
Each spring hundreds or thousands of brown pelicans and other birds fly to Queen Bess Island to lay eggs. With reconstruction of the island wrapping up, the season for egg laying is just about to kick off. The island will be closed to foot traffic through September.