The ship in the photo is actually on the Mississippi River, headed upriver to New Orleans.You are looking up at it because the river is higher than the surrounding land, which is part of the delta built up by the river over many centuries. The earth levee, which holds back the river when in flood, is critically important to life along the river. The levees run for hundreds of miles, and are constantly being upgraded/maintained. The helicopter shown here flies oil rig workers (roustabouts) out to the platforms offshore. Oil, fishing, crabbing and shrimping are the main source of employment on the lower river. We took a day off to visit this area of Louisiana, the "toe of the boot". Not many tourists get down here unless they are die-hard fishermen.