Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says damage from the Gulf Coast oil spill is already evident along the shorelines in his state.

Jindal took a boat tour Thursday of marshlands in Louisiana, where more thick oil has been washing ashore.

"This is an incredibly important area. These are America's wetlands. Literally, there's a reason this is called a 'sportsman's paradise,'" Jindal said. "The biologists that were with us today said of the wetlands, of the decaying we saw today, [that] within five to seven days you're going to see the discoloration."

Jindal has asked for an emergency dredging permit to take sand from nearby areas to construct a line of sand berms to block the oil -- making clean-up easier.

There's also still concern that a powerful loop current could carry the oil up the eastern coastline.