Giant Salvinia

On a recent trip to Lake Bistineau I photograph members of The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Inland Fisheries Division spraying the second round of herbicide on Giant Salvinia that has taken over areas of the lake.

The Giant Salvinia, a free floating aquatic fern that is native to Brazil, is doubling every week to 10 days during the peak growing season.

It was amazing to see just how much of the invasive plant was on the lake and how thick it has become. In the above photo the apparent grass is actually the live Salvinia while the brown areas is dead Salvinia from another spraying. All of the area surrounding the Cypress trees is water, as can be noted from the boat spraying in the background.