New island off the coast of Louisiana becomes home to brown pelicans

(KPLC) – A dredging project has created a new island in the Gulf near the coast of Louisiana.

The island, which lies about nine miles off the coast of St. Mary Parish, is made of sediment from the Atchafalaya River. Over the past decade, officials have removed sand from the river for navigation purposes and pumped it onto the island, which now measures 500 by 2,000 feet.

The island is already home to numerous birds, including our state bird, the brown pelican.

KADN meteorologist Michael Crowley was able to see the formation up close along with Lafayette environmentalist Harold Shoeffler and Morgan City Port Manager Raymond “Mac” Wade.

Shoeffler described what it was like to see the island for the first time.

“I looked at my depth gauge and I was in 2 feet of water. I should have been in 8 feet of water. I said, ‘Wow!’ So I quickly slowed down and my daughter, who is with me, said, ‘Look, there’s an island!’ I said, ‘There are no islands out here.’ She said, ‘Yeah, it’s full of pelicans,'” Shoeffler said.

“It’s really not that big. You can’t see what’s underwater. It will be like the tip of an iceberg. When we’re done, it will be a big island,” Wade said.

The growing island does not have a name yet.

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