This image was taken early in restoration and shows the Greenhill Oil Facility and the berm building process.

An image of the plants during the third season of growth.

Post restoration, this image shows the cell that did not perform well after being planted with Spartina alterniflora. The platform was considered too high to promote colonization of Spartina.

This image was taken after the oil spill but before restoration construction of the marsh platforms. Birds roost at the restoration site.

Fall marsh at East Timbalier Island.

Spartina alterniflora in its second or third season, post restoration.

Early restoration planting.

Spartina alterniflora in its third growing season, post restoration.

Monitoring growth of the marsh plants after year two of the growing season.

During restoration construction of the marsh platform, sediments being pumped into the cells created to contain the dredge material.

During restoration construction of the marsh platform, sediments being pumped into the cells created to contain the dredge material.

Post restoration/marsh platform construction. A cell that did not perform well. All of the other cells were extremely successful.

Post restoration.

A pond in the natural marsh on East Timbalier Island.

Natural marsh, East Timbalier Island.

A berm, early restoration/construction.

A walkway created to monitor the marsh platform. This image was taken prior to any planting that was done at the restoration site.

This image shows the process of sediment deposition and was taken during construction. The dredged sediments are left to settle and and lose water before being used to construct the marsh platform.

Spartina alterniflora planted at the restoration site is in its fourth growing season.

A berm early in the construction process.

Spartina alterniflora planted at the restoration site is in its fourth growing season.

A site visit to monitor at the berm on the backside of the marsh platform after construction of the platform but prior to planting.

Black mangrove in the natural marsh on East Timbalier Island.

Newly planted smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, is colonizing at the high intertidal zone at the Lake Barre restoration site.

Newly planted smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, is inundated by the incoming tide.

A close-up view of the seed heads on a newly planted marsh hay cordgrass, Spartina patens, plant. S patens was planted at the Lake Barre restoration site to stabilize high marsh areas.

Smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, at low tide

Smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, flourishes at the western end of the restoration site, Lake Barre, East Timbalier Island.

The left hand portion of this image shows the natural marsh at Lake Barre, the foreground shows the newly planted S. alterniflora seedlings beginning to colonize.

Smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, a salt marsh plant native to the area is planted in rows to encourage rapid colonization of the restoration area and to prevent erosion of the newly created marsh platform.

Chris Doley of the NOAA Restoration Center fishing gillnets to collect larger fish that inhabit near-shore shallow water habitats. The numbers and types of species were measured to compare and determine large species fish use of shallow water habitats at Poplar Island. The nets used had 3 sizes of mesh.

The catch being hauled in

The gillnet catch being brought in. The species being fished for included, blueback herring, Alosa aestivalis; silver perch, Bairdiella chrysoura; atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannosaurus; weakfish, Cynoscion regalis; Atlantic croaker, Micropogonus undulatus; white perch, Morone americanus; striped bass or rockfish, Morone saxatilis and; bluefish, Ponatomus saltatrix.

The gillnet catch being brought in.

The gillnet catch being hauled in.

The catch being brought in

Placement of the catch/samples into buckets. There were 3 mesh sizes used for each gillnet. The catch from each panel was placed in separate buckets to track the size and quantity of species brought in for each net's mesh size.

Bringing in the gillnet catch

The gillnet catch being hauled in.

Lee Crockett, formerly of NOAA, pilots the boat used in the sampling process.

Dave Meyers of the NOAA Beaufort Lab surveys the sampling area.

Dave Meyers of NOAA points to the next site.

Chris Doley, of NOAA, en route to begin sample sorting.

Trish Murphy, formerly of NOAA, takes a secchi depth reading to determine water turbidity and how it relates to the ability of the fish to recognize the sampling gillnets.

A former NOAA staff member takes a secchi depth reading.

Coaches Island, gillnet samples are processed and measured. The catch is identified by species and enumerated and recorded.

The crew waits for the fyke nets to fish. Fyke nets are used to sample small fish.

A collection taken from a 16' semi-balloon otter trawl. The fish are small juvenile rockfish.

The bag from the net is emptied into the tote. The fish are juvenile rockfish.

A tray full of juvenile rockfish after the net is emptied into the tote for sampling.