Protect the wetlands by taking an oil sample

Learn about oil and chemical clean-ups, habitat protection, and tour the wetlands around the Big Easy.

Key Terms

Marshes- A wetland that tends to have long grasses and reeds that causes an issue with pollution response
Wetlands - Any area of land covered by water, swamps, marches, bayous. They can be impacted by tides.
Incident Management- When something happens and the Coast Guard responses. Like firefighters, we get a call to help someone and a team is created based on the needs of the situation.
Marine environmental management – The Coast Guards environmental mission where we focus on responding to oil and hazardous material spills. Also where we worry about the animals and those living around the incident.
Oil spill – Any time a boat, person, or a piece of machinery spills oil into a waterway.
Four Gas Meter- A small machine that we wear on our body to make sure that the air we breath is safe
Hardhats – A hat we wear to protect our head – a helmet
Oil samples – A small amount of oil from an accident that we test to determine where it came from
Marine science technician – A position in the Coast Guard that responds to oil spills, accidents, investigate accidents and are the ones who are focused on ensuring safety and protection to our maritime resources
Pollute - to make dirty
Oil – a substance that is used to make machinery and engines operate properly. Oil spilt can hurt living thing and cause serious damage
Invert – turn upside down
Oiliophilic sorbent pad - Material like a sponge that helps soak up oil that is spilt in water
Absorbant – Soaks into a material – Sponges are absorbant. The Coast Guard uses material to help absorb harmful substances
Adsordant – sticks to a material – Things that are adsorbate repel substances. The Coast Guard will use materials that are adsordant to keep oil away from things.
In-situ burn - Sometimes the best option to clean up or get rid of oil in the water is to burn it. It is not very common but it can be used to clean an area
Rosocane – A type of Reed. It is apart of the New Orlean vegetation
Oil skimmer – A machine that is a vacuum for oil on the water. It is a size of small car that the Coast Guard places in the water near spill and it will vacuum spilt oil.
Spills and releases- Spills are related to oils and a release is related to a hazardous materials
Wellheads – The top of an oil well that serves as a plug between the water and the oil
Subsea pipelines- Oil and gas lines that go in the ground underwater
Hurricanes – A very strong rain storm where flooding, thunder and lightening occure that causes a lot of damage over a large area.
Deepwater Horizon- The name of the oil drilling rig that exploded and caught on fire causing the largest oil spill in American history
Duckling – A baby duck
Lake Poncertrain- A large body of water that is connected to the Gulf of Mexico that is surrounded by marsh and bayou.
Mississippi river – Largest and longest North American River. It is considered the heart of maritime trading for the United States
State and federal agencies – Teammates that we add to our team when responding to an incident that requires the Coast Guards help
Critical habitat – The natural home of an animal. When a habit becomes critical that means an animals home is becoming less common. When an oil spill occurs the Coast Guard has to be aware of crital habitats of those animals living around the area.
Endangered species – When there is a very small population left of an animal or plant
Mystery sheen - An oil spill that no one knows where it came from
National Response Center - If someone wants to report an oil spill you would call the Nation Response Center
Oil drum - A large container that holds oil
Laissez les bons temps rouler - Let the good times roll
Marina – a parking lot for boats
Hazardous materials - a harmful chemical
Vessel inspection- What we do to make sure the vessel is safe to operate
Waterways management - activities to support vessel movement, waterway infrastructure, communicate waterway and environmental definitions, and support understanding of ocean and waterway environments through marine science and observation.
MH-65 Dolphin- A rescue helicopter