59 #WATERHEROES OCEAN & COASTAL WATERS “I was doing some assessment work a few years ago with a colleague,” Joe recalled. “We were about two miles from our boat, walking through knee-deep water when I felt something clamp down on my foot. I lifted up my boot and a four-and-a-half-foot alligator was hanging on for dear life. I shook my foot a few times and he scurried away. I think we scared him more than the other way around.” Joe works for The Nature Conservancy, a global conservation organization working to protect the lands and waters on which all life depends. In the Atchafalaya, the Conservancy is restoring the basin’s deep woods and meandering bayous, which provide essential habitat for more than 300 species of wildlife and 100 different aquatic species, as well as a rich diversity of native plants. The impact of the Atchafalaya River Basin also reaches far beyond its banks: by way of the Mississippi River Basin, water from 31 states and two Canadian provinces drains into the river, making it an important waterway for a good portion of North America. As the Atchafalaya helps move water from north to south, it provides an influx of fresh water to the Gulf of Mexico that creates the unique wetland habitats that oysters, shrimp, and other aquatic species need to thrive. It also delivers sediment that’s growing deltas in Atchafalaya Bay and Wax Lake, the only places along the Gulf of Mexico that are gaining ground. “The importance of the Atchafalaya for the region and the entire country cannot be underestimated,” Joe explained. “This river and its habitats power the livelihoods and recreational activities that shape our history, our culture, and our heritage.” Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana Joe Baustain, pre-deployment inspection of an EXO sonde.