East Cote Blanche Bay is part of a remnant delta complex that was once a channel of the Mississippi River 5,000 to 7,500 years ago, and along with West Cote Blanche Bay, Atchafalaya Bay, Marsh Island, and a few offshore shoals, it is all that remains of the relict Maringouin Delta. Now an estuarine bay that receives part of its water from the Atchafalaya River, it has been retreating because of erosion, subsidence, and land loss even as deltas east of here are adding land, reflecting problems affecting much of coastal Louisiana. Oil industry infrastructure along the shoreline marks the area’s importance to Louisiana’s economy and also recalls another factor in wetland loss. The bay’s rich waters and marshes are important to coastal fisheries and the seafood industry, providing breeding grounds and nursery habitat for juvenile fish and crustaceans, which in turn support shorebirds and wading birds as part of the food chain, and the bay is heavily used by commercial and recreational fishermen. Salt domes on the bay’s perimeter, the highest land along the coast, are part of the Gulf Coast Salt Dome Basin in Texas and Louisiana and provided vital high ground in prehistoric times where animals gathered and American Indians established villages. Large stands of mature live oak trees grow on these domes, which still provide habitat for many species of wildlife, including the Louisiana black bear, while migratory birds use this coastline as a refuge after crossing the Gulf of Mexico. Cote Blanche, meaning “White Coast” in French, is one of the five primary islands or domes of the Five Island Trend with Jefferson, Avery, Weeks, and Belle Isle, and these islands rise an average of 150 to 200 feet above the surrounding swamps. East Cote Blanche Bay also provides access to Marsh Island, a wildlife refuge and popular recreational fishing and shrimping destination about 20 miles from the Louisiana coast, which has eroded from 76,664 acres when originally deeded to about 70,000 acres today.