The Delcambre Canal, also known as Bayou Carlin, runs from Lake Peigneur

Lake Peigneur

Lake Peigneur is located in the U.S. State of Louisiana north of Delcambre and west of New Iberia, near the northernmost tip of Vermilion Bay.-History:...

 in Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 to Vermilion Bay

Vermilion Bay

Vermilion Bay is a bay in southern Louisiana in the United States.Vermilion Bay is located in southwestern Iberia Parish and southeastern Vermilion Parish...

 near Weeks Island. It serves to connect the shrimping

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

 center of Delcambre

Delcambre, Louisiana

Delcambre is a town in Iberia and Vermilion parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located twelve miles east of Abbeville on Louisiana Highway 14 in the Cajun Heartland of Acadiana. The Delcambre Canal, also known as Bayou Carlin, passes through the town and is home for much of the local fishing...

 to the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

. It also has a spur connection to Avery Island and crosses the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is the portion of the Intracoastal Waterway located along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It is a navigable inland waterway running approximately 1700 kilometers from Carrabelle, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas.The waterway provides a channel with a controlling...

. The canal was first dredged in 1906.

In 1980 an oil drilling rig

Oil well

An oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.-History:The earliest...

 in Lake Peigneur pierced a deep salt mine

Salt mine

A salt mine is a mining operation involved in the extraction of rock salt or halite from evaporite deposits.-Occurrence:Areas known for their salt mines include Kilroot near Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland ; Khewra and Warcha in Pakistan; Tuzla in Bosnia; Wieliczka and Bochnia in Poland A salt mine...

, causing the lake to drain into the mine. The Delcambre Canal flowed backwards feeding gulf waters into the lake until the mine was filled and the lake refilled.