At Least There Is Boom

Dan Barry: ON EAST BAY, La.

With the Gulf of Mexico oil spill prompting clients to cancel their plans to get themselves some redfish, the charter captain agreed, for a price, to head out in search of another sea creature. The mere sight of it sends hope and fear colliding into each other like unfastened cargo.

The captain's 24-foot Pathfinder skimmed for 20 miles through luscious backwaters. He turned down the Southwest Pass, took a cut into East Bay and, boom, there it was: Boom. With dull-orange skin, the boom stretched north for thousands of yards — like a Christo art installation — snaking, bobbing and, supposedly, protecting the sensitive shores from encroaching oil.