Breton Island is an island (or group of islands) in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

near the mouth of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

and part of

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Plaquemines Parish (; French language, French: ''Paroisse de Plaquemine'', Louisiana French: ''Paroisse des Plaquemines'', es, Parroquia de Caquis) is a Parish (subnational entity), parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a populat ...

. It is part of the

Breton National Wildlife Refuge Breton National Wildlife Refuge is located in southeastern Louisiana in the offshore Breton Islands and Chandeleur Islands. It is located in the Gulf of Mexico and is accessible only by boat. The refuge was established in 1904 through executive o ...

, which was established in 1904.

Number of islands

In the early 19th century, Breton Island comprised two islands. Prior to

Hurricane Opal Hurricane Opal was a large and powerful Category 4 hurricane that caused severe and extensive damage along the northern Gulf Coast of the United States in October 1995. The fifteenth named storm, ninth hurricane and strongest tropical cyclon ...

in 1995, it was a single island, and was divided in two by that storm. After

Hurricane Georges Hurricane Georges () was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde Category 4 hurricane which caused severe destruction as it traversed the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in September 1998, making eight landfalls along its path. Georges was the sevent ...

in 1998 it was divided into three islands.

Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlan ...

in 2004 caused additional damage to the island.

Erosion and restoration

Breton Island decreased from in 1869 to in 1996. Some restoration was done in 1999 funded pursuant to the

Water Resources Development Act of 1992 The Water Resources Development Act of 1992 (WRDA 1992), , was enacted by Congress of the United States on October 31, 1992. Most of the provisions of WRDA 1992 are administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Title I: Water Resources ...

; the project was put on hold in 2000. Fines from the ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill are being used for rebuilding Breton Island. They aim to enlarge the island to .

References

{{authority control Islands of Louisiana Landforms of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Uninhabited islands of the United States