By Bob Marshall – Anchorage Daily News – April 24, 2012

Last Thursday morning, the Cat Islands in Barataria Bay looked like a slice of brown pelican heaven. Every mangrove bush seemed crowned by a nest, and each nest was home to a group of youngsters, from the tiny, hairless newborns that resemble dinosaurs more than birds, to the gangly adolescents trying to test their emerging plumage. And each nest was guarded by at least one vigilant parent while other adults were wheeling across the blue sky hunting for finned meals in the sparkling green waters below.   Two years ago, the world wondered if this rite of spring would ever occur here again. As a major landfall for the oil pouring out of BP's blown Deepwater Horizon rig, Barataria Bay was being pummeled by one of the worst environmental muggings in the nation's history. Poisonous hydrocarbons laced the surface of the bay in ugly red strips, became embedded in the silty bottom, and washed up against the mangrove islands. All this just as the state bird -- only recently returning from a 37-year stay on the endangered and threatened list -- was at the height of its nesting season. For full article, click here.