welcome to airworthy tours your guide in the sky my name is captain
phillip and today i'm going to serve as your
pilot and tour guide as we visit the louisiana swamp and
bayou the swamp and bayou hold a very special
place in louisiana both culturally and economically
hence the nickname of louisiana being the bayou state
now before we get started please keep all
hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times
and don't forget to subscribe to be a part of future aerial tours
we are clear for takeoff so sit back relax
and enjoy your tour
the word bayou originated from the choctaw word
of valk which refers to a small stream
over thousands of years outlets and inlets from the mississippi river
formed the louisiana bayous
in total louisiana is home to 3 million acres
of wetlands and accounts for nearly half of the continental
united states coastal wetlands
the wetlands are very important because of their many utilities
that include buffering storm impacts storing and conveying storm water
absorbing nutrients sediments and contaminants
maintaining high biological productivity and biodiversity
and serving as a nursery ground for fish and habitat for wildlife
below is a bald cypress tree the bald cypress is the state tree
of louisiana and played a vital role in its history
as it served as the main source of wood for centuries
bald cypresses are slow-growing long-lived trees
that can reach up to 600 years in age however the species is under threat due
to lumbering habitat loss and pollution those
dangling plants that are found on many of the swamp trees
are called spanish moss however they do not come from spain
and they're not even a moss it is a bromeliad placing it in the same
category as pineapples and succulent house plants
while spanish moss grows on trees it is not a parasite
the plant lives off of rain fog and sunlight
below is a shrimp boat
the fisheries of louisiana are a vital part of the state's economy
one out of every 70 jobs in the state are related to the seafood industry
which as a whole has an economic impact of over 2.4
billion dollars annually louisiana is the second largest supplier
of seafood in the country behind alaska
many of america's favorite seafood options come
from these waters right here including shrimp
blue crabs oysters and of course crawfish more than 1.1
billion pounds of fish and shellfish are harvested
annually as much as 16 percent of the nation's fisheries harvest come
from the louisiana coast and wetlands over 75 percent of
louisiana's commercially harvested fish and
shellfish species are dependent on wetlands at some point
during their life cycles
these swamps used to be the stomping grounds of jean lafitte
who was a french pirate and privateer in the early 1800s
lafitte and his band of pirates stayed in the swamps
dodging the u.s navy
while they intercepted ships took their cargo and sold it
at illicit auctions
lafitte stayed at odds with the u.s government until
1814 when a deal was offered in exchange for helping to fight the
invading british army during the war of 1812 lafitte and all
of his men would be pardoned of all their piracy
lafitte accepted and in 1815 he and his men
played a major role in the american victory at the battle of new orleans
thus preventing new orleans from falling into british hands
lafitte's blacksmith slash bar still operates in the french quarter
to this day and one of the largest swamps near new orleans
is named after him
ahead is an american alligator which is the largest reptile
in north america and the state reptile of louisiana florida
and mississippi the species has been around for an estimated 37
million years an alligator can stay submerged
for up to two hours a mature alligator has 80 teeth at a
time but can go through as many as 3 000 in its lifetime their powerful jaws
can shut with up to 2 000 pounds per square inch
the largest alligator ever recorded was measured at 19 feet
2 inches and weighed two thousand pounds today's gaiters average between eight
and twelve feet in length and their diet includes
anything that can fit in their mouths three hundred thousand wild and farmed
alligators are harvested per year in louisiana
alligator harvests have a total annual economic impact
of a hundred million dollars if you would like to get close to one of
these creatures consider taking a swamp tour
i will leave a link to some tour companies in the description box
while the swamps are full of life nobody has made a home
on the bayou quite like the occasions
the cajuns are descendants of french canadians who were expelled
from the acadian region by the british between 1755
and 1764.
they made their way to french louisiana and have had an enormous impact on the
culture ever since ahead is the capital of cajun
country lafayette louisiana
basically all of southern louisiana is a region called
acadiana in fact the song you're listening to now
is a music genre called zydeco which blends blues
rhythm and blues and music indigenous to the louisiana creoles
and the native peoples of louisiana
the most known form of transportation on the swamp and bayou
is the air boat which is a flat bottomed watercraft
propelled by an aircraft type propeller
airboats actually inspired the higgins boat
which were the u.s navy's landing craft that were used
in d-day and the pacific campaigns more than 23 000 higgins boats were
built in new orleans
if you would like to take an airboat tour i will leave links
in the description box of tour companies
while we know that the swamp and bayous are important for both the state
and the country unfortunately coastal erosion
has become a huge issue for the swamps and wetlands
and the state of louisiana at large while natural causes have contributed
such as hurricanes subsidence and sea level rise human
activity in the past century has accelerated the problem
these activities include canal dredging forced drainage of the wetlands
and the construction of massive levees
in fact some estimates include that the state loses
an area the size of a football field each hour
there have been efforts to fight this loss including seed planting
marsh creations and barrier island restorations
however time will tell if this precious resource
will be saved if you enjoyed today's tour you can tip
your tour guide by hitting the like button also
make sure to check out some of our other tours as well thank you for flying with
airworthy tours and we look forward to seeing you on our
next flight