The Mississippi River and its wildlife

The Mississippi River is one of the world's great commercial waterways. It flows from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, through cotton fields, swamps, and marshland.

Origins

Together, the Mississippi River and the Missouri River, one of its tributaries, from the third longest river system in the world, flowing for a total of 3,700 miles. Other main tributaries include the Ohio and Arkansas rivers. Originating in northern Minnesota, the Mississippi flows nearly 2,400 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. It empties some 800 billion cubic feet of water into the Gulf each year. Steamboats have navigated the Mississippi since the 1820s, and today this river is one of the world's busiest commercial waterways. Its lower parts are subject to serious flooding, and its banks are strengthened by artificial embankments called levees. Natural levees form when the river overflows and sediment builds into a ridge. In Louisiana the Mississippi feeds hundreds of small waterways called bayous. The name comes from bayyuk, which is the native Choctaw Indian word for "creek." The Mississippi River drains into the Gulf of Mexico through the Atchafalaya River. This river acts as a distributary ( an outlet that drains a larger river into the sea). As these two rivers approach the sea, the land becomes mostly freshwater swamp and saltwater marsh.

Wildlife of the Mississippi

One of the Mississippi's most unusual inhabits is the paddlefish, which has a spatula shaped snout. This fish gathers plankton by swimming close to the surface with its mouth wide open. Paddlefish may have existed 80 million years ago. They were once common in the Mississippi valley, but commercial river traffic has made them scarce.The alligator gar is a 10-foot-long fish that has armored scales and huge jaws with sharp, closely set teeth. It preys on all kinds of water life, including small and medium size alligators. The huge fish waits motionlessly for prey to pass and then lunges, crushing its prey with its jaws.One the riverbed the alligator snapping turtle lies in wait for fish. A brightly colored lure attached to its tongue entices prey into its mouth.Birds on the river include the great blue heron, the purple gallinule, the red-winged blackbird and the pied-billed grebe, whose bill is specially adapted for catching crayfish. The brown pelican, Louisiana's state bird, is endangered because of heavy pesticide levels in the fish it eats.

The fertile delta

For most of its length, the Mississippi is a wide and fast-flowing river that carries a large quantity of alluvium (particles of rock, sand, silt, and clay). As the river nears the sea, the water begins to slow down and alluvium deposits are left behind. Over time the sediment has built up and the forced the water into a series of channels that fan out toward the sea in a triangular shape called a delta.The alluvium deposited over the Mississippi's flood plain has created rich, fertile land that is perfect for growing cotton. The coast is rich in marine life, and the flood plain supports many different bird species, including the great egret.