Coastal Louisiana 

Activity Book 
Coastal Louisiana: Did you know? 

• The Louisiana coastal plain remains the largest 

expanse of coastal wetlands in the contiguous 

United States. 

• The Louisiana coast comprises more than 40% 

of America’s coastal wetlands. These coastal 

wetlands are built by the Mississippi River. 

• Louisiana is disappearing! An alarming 80% of 

all coastal wetlands loss in the continental 

United States occurs in Louisiana. In the past 

50 years, more than 1,500 square miles have 

been lost. 

• Coastal Louisiana contains many different 

ecosystems, including natural levee and beach 

ridges, forested swamps, and fresh, brackish, 

and saline marshes. 

• The coastal wetlands protect an 

internationally significant commercialindustrial complex from the damaging forces 

of storm driven waves and tides. This complex 

includes deep draft ports that handle the 

Nation’s waterborne commerce and the most 

active segment of the Nation’s Intracoastal 

Waterway. 

1 
COLOR ME! 

The American alligator is different from its often 

mistaken counterpart, the crocodile, because it has 

a round snout and no salt-removing glands. A 

female alligator will guard her nest until her 

babies are born and even help them hatch. The 

nest temperature determines the sex of the 

hatchlings. Higher temperatures create males 

(>93°F), lower temps create females (<86°F), and 

middle temperatures create both. 

2 
Connect the Dots: 

Find a Common Louisiana Animal 

3 
COLOR ME! 

Fourteen species of dolphin are commonly found in 

the Gulf of Mexico including bottlenose dolphins. 

Bottlenose dolphins can be seen year round off the 

coast of Louisiana and some even come inshore into 

the bays and rivers. 

4 
Can you find these coastal 

Louisiana words? 

M D G B C I H U R R I C A N E 

N E W O R L E A N S N E H B P 

U L N R G E E R O S I O N A P 

C M E H E R O N O Y S Y O R P 

O R S E A E M I N E S S H R O 

A O A A I D E L T A A T A I L 

S Y A W E E E O U W L E S R L 

T C L S F L O N I A T R F R U 

S H I L B I A N A V M S Y I T 

B C A S E S S L U E A E M S I 

B A S S Y V K H I R R P Z L O 

A J J C O C E A N O S O R A N 

D U K C B E A E N C H W I N L 

H N R A I N V A S I V E S D N 

J U N I O U V J E C I B I S A 

Menhaden Delta 

Coast Salt Marsh 

Ocean Invasives 

Bass Ibis 

Oysters Pollution 

Barrier Islands Wave 

Hurricane Erosion 

New Orleans Crawfish 

Cajun Heron 

Levee 

5 
COLOR ME! 

Flounder begin life like other fish – upright, 

with eyes on opposite sides of the head. 

Gradually, they begin listing to one side, and 

one eye migrates to the “top” side. They 

spend the rest of their lives sideways, 

swimming and lying flat on the bottom. 

6 
Can you help the menhaden 

find safety before the 

hurricane comes? 

7 
COLOR ME! 

Like a plankton net, the paddlefish’s large mouth 

with fine strains filters small crustaceans, algae, 

bug larvae, and mayflies. Damming of large rivers 

has eliminated much of the paddlefish’s spawning 

habitat by controlling spring flooding and keeping 

water within its banks. That is why this fish is 

considered to be threatened. 

8 
Can you match these 

animals with their Cajun 

French name? 

Cocodrie 

Chevrette 

Poisson 

Crabe 

Écrevisse 

9 
COLOR ME! 

Redfish usually travel in small schools of 3-4 fish. 

A female redfish can produce up to 500,000 eggs 

annually, but only 20 to 30% of these will survive. 

The eggs hatch after one to two days. Did you 

know that the largest redfish ever caught weighed 

94 pounds, 2 ounces? 

10
WHICH TWO ARE THE SAME? 

11
COLOR ME! 

This turtle is named for the diamond patterns on 

its top shell. It is believed to be the only turtle in 

the world that lives exclusively in brackish-water

areas! In these areas, such as tidal marshes, 

estuaries, and lagoons, the water contains some 

salt, but it is not as salty as the ocean. The 

diamondback terrapin’s shell is covered with 

scales or plates called scutes that bear deep, 

diamond-shaped growth rings. These form a 

pattern that is unique to each turtle, just like your 

fingerprint!

12
Connect the Dots to Find a 

Double-Crested Cormorant 

13
COLOR ME! 

Ospreys love fish and they catch them by hovering 

over the water at an altitude of 50 to 200 feet, then 

diving feet-first into the water. The osprey’s feet 

are uniquely adapted to “air fishing.” Each 

osprey’s foot has a reversible front toe, as well as 

barbs (called spicules), which help it hold onto a 

slippery fish in flight.

14
Can You Find These 

Endangered and Threatened 

Species Words? 

Words can be found down, across, and diagonally. 

B R O W N P E L I C A N A H H 

E C F D E O A F G A L H E U G 

H A E I S N B P W H A L E M E 

A A G P N D S L Q E E P A P Q 

W M A L C B E E A A W A O B U 

K U M O E E A E L C F B K A I 

S C T V G R T C N A K R J C L 

B K A E S R U R K S R B V K L 

I E T R U Y R C A B T T E E W

L T O R T O I S E N M A N A O 

L V G U L F S T U R G E O N R 

E I F O P E A R L S H E L L T 

D R E E E L A M U I T L E A S 

A E M A N A T E E N C E A G L 

T O H E S E A T U R T L E E L 

Brown Pelican 

Pondberry 

Gulf Sturgeon 

Hawksbill 

Sea Turtle 

Quillwort 

Mucket 

Finback 

Whale 

Eagle 

Manatee 

Blackbear 

Vireo 

Plover 

Tortoise 

Humpback 

Pearlshell 

15
In August 2005 Hurricane Katrina came across 

Florida and slammed into the Gulf States, causing 

terrible damage to the coastal areas of Louisiana, 

Mississippi, and Alabama. Connect the hurricane 

symbols to plot the track of Katrina. 

16
Can you navigate this 

dolphin maze? 

17
Which Animals and Plants Do 

Not Belong? Circle the invasive. 

a. Water Hyacinth d. Nutria

b. Bald Cypress e. Chinese Tallow Tree

c. Oystergrass f. Sea Trout 

18
Can you find the seven 

animals hidden in this 

Louisiana Bayou? 

There is an oyster, an alligator head, an osprey, a 

pelican, a dolphin, a paddlefish, and a snake.

19
Shrimp Life Cycle 

Did you know that a single female shrimp can 

release 100,000 to 1,000,000 eggs? Once hatched, 

the young shrimp develop through several larval 

stages in bay nurseries. When the shrimp reach 

juvenile and sub-adult stages they usually migrate 

to the Gulf of Mexico where most stay for the rest 

of their lives. 

20
Marine Debris 

Draw a line from the type of debris (trash) to the time it 

takes to decompose (go away) in the marine 

environment. 

plastic bottle 

200 years 

apple core 

400 years 

1 million years 

plastic 6-pack rings 

450 years 

waxed milk carton 

3 months 

aluminum cans 

2 months 

glass bottles & jars 

21
Color Me! 

The beaches, rocky shores, marshes, coastal and open 

oceans are homes to many different plants and animals. 

Be polite and do not mess up their homes. Take your 

trash back to your home, just leave footprints in theirs. 

22
Answers 

Cocodrie: Alligator 

Chevrette: Shrimp 

Poisson: Fish 

Crabe: Crab 

Écrevisse: Crawfish 

23
More Answers 

1 and 3 are the 

same shrimp. 

A, D, and E are the 

invasive species. 

24
And More Answers 

25
Regional Activity Book Series: 

1. Chesapeake Bay Activity Book – http://www.nccos.noaa.gov/education/cbbook

2. Coastal North Carolina Activity Book – 

http://www.coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/ncbook.pdf

3. Salish Sea Activity Book – http://www.coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/ssbook.pdf

4. Mobile Bay Activity Book – http://www.coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/mbbook.pdf

5. Why Is Hawaii’s Ocean Important: A Keiki Activity Book – 

http://www.coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/hibook.pdf

Copies of this material can be downloaded from: 

http://www.coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/labook.pdf

Produced by: 

Dr. Susan Baker, NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science 

Ashley Heard, NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science 

Jean May-Brett, Louisiana Building a Presence for Science 

Jessica Kastler, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCOM) 

May 2006