ryan lambert and albertine kimble are coastal restoration experts. >> two thousand square miles essentially since 1950. two thousand square miles that's larger than the area of the grand canyon. gone just open water. just like this now. think about that - think about that! >> no wetlands equals no people. if we can't have these wetlands, pretty soon there'll be no habitat, and there'll be no people. that's the way i look at it, that's my simple saying. >> they're taking us to the venice gas fields, where oil giant chevron and other major firms have operated for decades. >> it looks like they've dug lots of little channels >> thousands. as you saw in this canal every 100 yards there's an oil well or a gas well. it's hard to think negative, because i know why and i know who, and but you can't leave it just because you came in here and use it you need to return it to what it was. >> there's been so much land loss here over the last few years, it's just the reeds that are left you can also see the oil pipelines sticking out of the water from the exploration industry's been doing around here. >>