Plaquemines is where the river meets the sea. On maps, it appears as a thick, muscular arm stretching into the Gulf of Mexico, with the Mississippi running, like a ropy blue vein, down the center. At the very end of the arm, the main channel divides into three, an arrangement that calls to mind fingers or claws, hence the area's name - the Bird's Foot. Seen from the air, the parish has a very different look. If it's an arm, it's a horribly emaciated one. For most of its length - more than sixty miles - it's practically all vein. What little solid land there is clings to the river in two skinny strips. Plaquemines has the distinction - a dubious one, at best - of being among the fastest-disappearing places on Earth.