Barataria Bay

Image:National Atlas Louisiana east detailed.gif of the Gulf of Mexico that is located between Empire and Grand Isle, Louisiana [enlarge].]]

Barataria Bay ({{langx|fr|Baie de Barataria}}), also Barrataria Bay, is a bay of the Gulf of Mexico, about 15 miles (24 km) long and 12 miles (19 km) wide, in southeastern Louisiana, in Jefferson Parish and Plaquemines Parish, United States. It is separated from the gulf by two barrier islands, Grand Isle and Grand Terre.{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/52636/Barataria-Bay|title=Barataria Bay - inlet, Louisiana, United States|access-date=26 February 2018}}

The bay takes its name from the Spanish novel Don Quixote, in which the insula Barataria, or Barataria island, appears as a fictional territory governed by Sancho Panza.{{cite book|last=Leeper|first=Clare D'Artois|title=Louisiana Place Names: Popular, Unusual, and Forgotten Stories of Towns, Cities, Plantations, Bayous, and Even Some Cemeteries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZHeeUa0xNxcC&pg=PA28|date=19 October 2012|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=978-0-8071-4740-5|page=28}}{{cite web |url=http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2011/07/how_swampy_barataria_got_its_n.html |title=How swampy Barataria got its name: A letter to the editor |date=19 July 2011 |publisher=Greater New Orleans |access-date=5 July 2013}}

Geography

The bay is indented and marshy, with many islands. The surrounding low-lying Barataria country, south of New Orleans and west of the Mississippi River Delta, is noted for its shrimp industry (based at villages built on pilings above the coastal marshes), muskrat trapping, natural gas wells, oil wells, and sulfur production. Its inlet is connected to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway system.

History and economy

Barataria Bay was used in the early 19th century as the base of pirates, privateers, and smugglers led by the pirate Jean Lafitte.{{cite book|author=William C. Davis|title=Lone Star Rising: The Revolutionary Birth of the Texas Republic|url=https://archive.org/details/lonestarrisingre00davi|url-access=registration|access-date=17 July 2013|year=2004|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-0-684-86510-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/lonestarrisingre00davi/page/32 32]}} They were referred to as the Baratarians.

Today the bay is a notable source of shrimp and sulfur, as well as of muskrat fur, natural gas, and petroleum.

Until Hurricane Betsy made landfall in 1965, Barataria Bay was home to Manila Village.{{cite web |url=http://www.louisianasportsman.com/details.php?id=1392 |title=Revered Remnants |last1=Ginn |first1=Chris |date=24 July 2008 |work=Louisiana Sportsman Magazine |publisher=Sportsman Magazines |access-date=26 January 2013}}

Barataria Bay along with Biloxi Marsh, Pointe-au-Chien and Adam’s Bay since 2014 have been part of an oyster shell recycling program to build reefs and protect against erosion and create marine habitats.{{Cite web |last=WILKINSON |first=MISSY |title=Want to protect the coast? There's a new oyster shell recycling drop-off site in New Orleans |url=https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_b2f39d00-4ee3-11ec-a5bc-8bacdb765bed.html |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=NOLA.com |date=26 November 2021 |language=en}}

2010 oil spill

File:2010 Barataria Bay oil geyser repair.jpg

On 27 July 2010, the tugboat Pere Ana C. struck an abandoned wellhead owned by Houston-based Cedyco Corp, while pulling a barge near Bayou St. Denis in Barataria Bay, causing a {{convert|20|to|100|ft|adj=on}} oil and gas geyser.{{cite news | author=The Associated Press | title=Louisiana Oil Geyser: 20-Foot Oil Leak Shooting Up In Plaquemines Parish After Hit By Tugboat | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/27/louisiana-oil-geyser-20fo_n_660874.html | work=The Huffington Post | date=27 July 2010 | access-date=27 July 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100729055322/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/27/louisiana-oil-geyser-20fo_n_660874.html| archive-date= 29 July 2010 | url-status= live}}{{cite news | author=Rong-Gong Lin II | title=Gulf oil spill: New spill in Gulf area after barge crashes into abandoned oil well | url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/07/gulf-oil-spill-new-spill-in-gulf-after-barge-crashes-into-abandoned-oil-well.html | work=The Los Angeles Times | date=27 July 2010 | access-date=28 July 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100730072719/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/07/gulf-oil-spill-new-spill-in-gulf-after-barge-crashes-into-abandoned-oil-well.html| archive-date= 30 July 2010 | url-status= live}}

The geyser was brought under control and the wellhead was repaired and capped on 1 August 2010, five days after the collision.{{cite web|title=Crews work to shut-in damaged wellhead |url=http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=957149 |publisher=United States Coast Guard |date=1 August 2010 |access-date=2 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718230132/http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=957149 |archive-date=18 July 2011 }}{{cite news |author=((CNN wire staff))|title=Leaking Barataria Bay oil well capped | url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/02/louisiana.barataria.bay.leak/ | work=CNN | date=2 August 2010| access-date=2 August 2010}}