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Chesapeake Bay

January 31, 2023

The Chesapeake Bay (/ˈtʃɛsəpiːk/ CHESS-ə-peek) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / Eastern Shore of Virginia and the state of Delaware) with its mouth of the Bay at the south end located between Cape Henry and Cape Charles.[3] With its northern portion in Maryland and the southern part in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states, as well as others surrounding within its watershed. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the Bay's 64,299-square-mile (166,534 km2) drainage basin, which covers parts of six states (New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia) and all of District of Columbia.[3][4]

Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay – Landsat satellite image
Chesapeake Bay Watershed - extends north/east/west into six adjoining American states - Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York state, plus the federal capital city of Washington in the District of Columbia.
Chesapeake Bay
LocationMaryland, Virginia
Coordinates37°48′N 76°06′W / 37.8°N 76.1°W / 37.8; -76.1Coordinates: 37°48′N 76°06′W / 37.8°N 76.1°W / 37.8; -76.1
TypeEstuary
EtymologyChesepiooc, Algonquian for village "at a big river"
Primary inflowsSusquehanna River mouth
east of Havre de Grace, Maryland
River sourcesDeer Creek,
Bush River,
Gunpowder River,
Back River,
Patapsco River,
Severn River,
Patuxent River,
Potomac River,
Rappahannock River,
York River,
James River, Chester River, Choptank River, Nanticoke River, Pocomoke River
Primary outflowsAtlantic Ocean
north of Virginia Beach, Virginia
36°59′45″N 75°57′34″W / 36.99583°N 75.95944°W / 36.99583; -75.95944
Catchment area64,299 sq mi (166,530 km2)
Basin countriesUnited States
Max. length200 mi (320 km)
Max. width30 mi (48 km)
Surface area4,479 sq mi (11,600 km2)
Average depth21 ft (6.4 m)
Residence time180 days [note 1]
SettlementsAnnapolis, Baltimore, Cambridge, Cape Charles, Chesapeake, Chesapeake Beach, Elkton, Hampton, Havre de Grace, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach
References
Official nameChesapeake Bay Estuarine Complex
Designated4 June 1987
Reference no.375[2]

The Bay is approximately 200 miles (320 km) long from its northern headwaters in the Susquehanna River to its outlet in the Atlantic Ocean. It is 2.8 miles (4.5 km) wide at its narrowest (between Kent County's Plum Point near Newtown in the east and the Harford County western shore near Romney Creek) and 30 miles (48 km) at its widest (just south of the mouth of the Potomac River which divides Maryland from Virginia). Total shoreline including tributaries is 11,684 miles (18,804 km), circumnavigating a surface area of 4,479 square miles (11,601 km2). Average depth is 21 feet (6.4 m), reaching a maximum of 174 feet (53 m).[5] The Bay is spanned twice, in Maryland by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from Sandy Point (near Annapolis) to Kent Island and in Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel connecting Virginia Beach to Cape Charles.

Known for both its beauty and bounty, the Bay has become "emptier", with fewer crabs, oysters and watermen (fishermen) since the mid-20th century.[6] Nutrient pollution and urban runoff have been identified as major components of impaired water quality in the bay stressing ecosystems and compounding the decline of shellfish due to overharvesting. Restoration efforts that began in the 1990s have continued into the 21st century and show potential for growth of the native oyster population.[7][8] The health of the Chesapeake Bay improved in 2015, marking three years of gains over a four-year period.[9] Slight improvements in water quality were observed in 2021, compared to indicators measured in 2020.[10] The bay is experiencing other environmental concerns, including climate change which is causing sea level rise that erodes coastal areas and infrastructure and changes to the marine ecosystem.[11]

Etymology

The word Chesepiooc is an Algonquian word referring to a village 'at a big river'. It is the seventh-oldest surviving English place-name in the United States, first applied as Chesepiook by explorers heading north from the Roanoke Colony into a Chesapeake tributary in 1585 or 1586. The name may also refer to the Chesapeake people or the Chesepian, a Native American tribe who inhabited the area now known as South Hampton Roads in the U.S. state of Virginia. They occupied an area that is now the Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach areas.[12] In 2005, Algonquian linguist Blair Rudes "helped to dispel one of the area's most widely held beliefs: that 'Chesapeake' means something like 'great shellfish bay'. It does not, Rudes said. The name might have actually meant something like 'great water', or it might have just referred to a village location at the Bay's mouth."[13]

Physical geography

Geology and formation

 
Boundaries of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater.

The Chesapeake Bay is an estuary to the North Atlantic, lying between the Delmarva Peninsula to the east and the North American mainland to the west. It is the ria, or drowned valley, of the Susquehanna River, meaning that it was the alluvial plain where the river flowed when the sea level was lower. It is not a fjord, because the Laurentide Ice Sheet never reached as far south as the northernmost point on the Bay. North of Baltimore, the western shore borders the hilly Piedmont region of Maryland; south of the city the Bay lies within the state's low-lying coastal plain, with sedimentary cliffs to the west, and flat islands, winding creeks and marshes to the east. The large rivers entering the Bay from the west have broad mouths and are extensions of the main ria for miles up the course of each river.

The Bay's geology, its present form, and its very location were created by a bolide impact event at the end of the Eocene (about 35.5 million years ago), forming the Chesapeake Bay impact crater and much later the Susquehanna River valley. The Bay was formed starting about 10,000 years ago when rising sea levels at the end of the last ice age flooded the Susquehanna River valley.[4] Parts of the Bay, especially the Calvert County, Maryland, coastline, are lined by cliffs composed of deposits from receding waters millions of years ago. These cliffs, generally known as Calvert Cliffs, are famous for their fossils, especially fossilized shark teeth, which are commonly found washed up on the beaches next to the cliffs. Scientists' Cliffs is a beach community in Calvert County named for the desire to create a retreat for scientists when the community was founded in 1935.[14]

Hydrology

 
View of the Eastern Bay in Maryland at sunset
 
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge, near Annapolis, Maryland

Much of the Bay is shallow. At the point where the Susquehanna River flows into the Bay, the average depth is 30 feet (9 m), although this soon diminishes to an average of 10 feet (3 m) southeast of the city of Havre de Grace, Maryland, to about 35 feet (11 m) just north of Annapolis. On average, the depth of the Bay is 21 feet (6.4 m), including tributaries;[15] over 24 percent of the Bay is less than 6 ft (2 m) deep.[16]

Because the Bay is an estuary, it has fresh water, salt water and brackish water. Brackish water has three salinity zones: oligohaline, mesohaline, and polyhaline. The freshwater zone runs from the mouth of the Susquehanna River to north Baltimore. The oligohaline zone has very little salt. Salinity varies from 0.5 ppt (parts per thousand) to 10 ppt, and freshwater species can survive there. The north end of the oligohaline zone is north Baltimore and the south end is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The mesohaline zone has a medium amount of salt and runs from the Bay Bridge to the mouth of the Rappahannock River. Salinity there ranges from 1.07% to 1.8%. The polyhaline zone is the saltiest zone, and some of the water can be as salty as sea water. It runs from the mouth of the Rappahannock River to the mouth of the Bay. The salinity ranges from 1.87% to 3.6%. (3.6% is as salty as the ocean.)[17]

The climate of the area surrounding the Bay is primarily humid subtropical, with hot, very humid summers and cold to mild winters. Only the area around the mouth of the Susquehanna River is continental in nature, and the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the Susquehanna flats often freeze in winter. It is rare for the surface of the Bay to freeze in winter, something that happened most recently in the winter of 1976–77.[18]

The Chesapeake Bay is the end point of over 150 rivers and streams.[19] The largest rivers flowing directly into the Bay, in order of discharge,[20][21] are:

For more information on Chesapeake Bay rivers, see the List of Chesapeake Bay rivers.

 
The Bay viewed from a plane

Flora and fauna

 
Food chain diagram for waterbirds of the Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is home to numerous fauna that either migrate to the Bay at some point during the year or live there year-round. There are over 300 species of fish and numerous shellfish and crab species. Some of these include the Atlantic menhaden, striped bass, American eel, eastern oyster, Atlantic horseshoe crab, and the blue crab.[22]

Birds include ospreys, great blue herons, bald eagles,[23] and peregrine falcons, the last two of which were threatened by DDT; their numbers plummeted but have risen in recent years.[24] The piping plover is a near threatened species that inhabits the wetlands.[24]

Larger fish such as Atlantic sturgeon,[25] varieties of sharks,[26][27] and stingrays visit the Chesapeake Bay.[28] The waters of the Chesapeake Bay have been regarded as one of the most important nursery areas for sharks along the east coast.[29] Megafaunas such as bull sharks, tiger sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks, and basking sharks[29] and manta rays are also known to visit. Smaller species of sharks and stingrays that are known to be regular to occasional residents in the bay include the smooth dogfish, spiny dogfish, cownose ray, and bonnethead.

Bottlenose dolphins are known to live seasonally/yearly in the Bay.[30] There have been unconfirmed sightings of humpback whales in recent years.[31][32] Endangered North Atlantic right whale[33] and fin, and minke and sei whales have also been sighted within and in the vicinity of the Bay.[28]

A male manatee visited the Bay several times between 1994 and 2011, even though the area is north of the species' normal range. The manatee, recognizable due to distinct markings on its body, was nicknamed "Chessie" after a legendary sea monster that was allegedly sighted in the Bay during the 20th century.[34][35][36] The same manatee has been spotted as far north as Rhode Island, and was the first manatee known to travel so far north.[37] Other manatees are occasionally seen in the Bay and its tributaries, which contain sea grasses that are part of the manatee's diet.[38]

Loggerhead turtles are known to visit the Bay.[28]

The Chesapeake Bay is also home to a diverse flora, both land and aquatic. Common submerged aquatic vegetation includes eelgrass and widgeon grass. A report in 2011 suggested that information on underwater grasses would be released, because "submerged grasses provide food and habitat for a number of species, adding oxygen to the water and improving water clarity."[39] Other vegetation that makes its home in other parts of the Bay are wild rice, various trees like the red maple, loblolly pine and bald cypress, and spartina grass and phragmites.[40] Invasive plants have taken a significant foothold in the Bay; plants such as Brazilian waterweed, native to South America, have spread to most continents with the help of aquarium owners, who often dump the contents of their aquariums into nearby lakes and streams. It is highly invasive, and has the potential to flourish in the low-salinity tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Dense stands of Brazilian waterweed can restrict water movement, trap sediment and affect water quality. Various local K-12 schools in the Maryland and Virginia region often have programs that cultivate native bay grasses and plant them in the Bay.

History

Pre-Columbian

The Chesapeake Bay has had a human presence for over 11,500 years.[citation needed] "Paleoindians," or the first humans in the Chesapeake Bay region, lived off the land by hunting game and living off the earth in small nomadic groups. Archeologists have also noted the presence of “foreign” stones in projectile points that came via trade from other parts of North America. For thousands of years, Native American societies lived in villages of wooden longhouses close to water bodies where they fished and farmed the land. Agricultural products included beans, corn, tobacco, and squash. Villages often lasted between 10 and 20 years before being abandoned due to local resources such as firewood running out or soil depleting.[41] To produce enough food, labor was divided with men hunting while the women supervised the village's farming. All village members took part in the harvesting of fish and shellfish from the local bodies of water. As time went on, communities around Chesapeake Bay formed confederations such as the Powhatan, the Piscataway, and the Nanticoke. Each of these confederations consisted of a collections of smaller tribes falling under the leadership of a central chief.[42]

European exploration and settlement

 
Revised map[43] of John White's original by Theodore DeBry. In this 1590 version, the Chesapeake Bay appears named for the first time.[44]
 
Later (1630) version of the 1612 map by Captain John Smith during his exploration of the Chesapeake. The map is oriented with west at top.

In 1524, Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, (1485–1528), in service of the French crown, (famous for sailing through and thereafter naming the entrance to New York Bay as the "Verrazzano Narrows", including now in the 20th century, a suspension bridge also named for him) sailed past the Chesapeake, but did not enter the Bay.[45] Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón sent an expedition out from Hispaniola in 1525 that reached the mouths of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. It may have been the first European expedition to explore parts of the Chesapeake Bay, which the Spaniards called "Bahía de Santa María" ("Bay of St. Mary") or "Bahía de Madre de Dios."("Bay of the Mother of God")[46] De Ayllón established a short-lived Spanish mission settlement, San Miguel de Gualdape, in 1526 along the Atlantic coast. Many scholars doubt the assertion that it was as far north as the Chesapeake; most place it in present-day Georgia's Sapelo Island.[47] In 1573, Pedro Menéndez de Márquez, the governor of Spanish Florida, conducted further exploration of the Chesapeake.[45] In 1570, Spanish Jesuits established the short-lived Ajacan Mission on one of the Chesapeake tributaries in present-day Virginia.[citation needed]

The arrival of English colonists under Sir Walter Raleigh and Humphrey Gilbert in the late 16th century to found a colony, later settled at Roanoke Island (off the present-day coast of North Carolina) for the Virginia Company, marked the first time that the English approached the gates to the Chesapeake Bay between the capes of Cape Charles and Cape Henry. Three decades later, in 1607, Europeans again entered the Bay. Captain John Smith of England explored and mapped the Bay between 1607 and 1609, resulting in the publication in 1612 back in the British Isles of "A Map of Virginia".[48] Smith wrote in his journal: "Heaven and earth have never agreed better to frame a place for man's habitation."[49] The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, the first designated "all-water" National Historic Trail in the US, was established in 2006 by the National Park Service. The trail follows the route of Smith's historic 17th-century voyage.[50] Because of economic hardships and civil strife in the "Mother Land", there was a mass migration of southern English Cavaliers and their servants to the Chesapeake Bay region between 1640 and 1675, to both of the new colonies of the Province of Virginia and the Province of Maryland.[citation needed]

American Revolution to the present

 
Oyster boats at war off the Maryland shore (1886 wood engraving). Regulation of the oyster beds in Virginia and Maryland has existed since the 19th century.

The Chesapeake Bay was the site of the Battle of the Chesapeake (also known as the "Battle of the Capes", Cape Charles and Cape Henry) in 1781, during which the French fleet defeated the Royal Navy in the decisive naval battle of the American Revolutionary War. The British defeat enabled General George Washington and his French allied armies under Comte de Rochambeau to march down from New York and bottle up the rampaging southern British Army of Lord Cornwallis from the North and South Carolinas at the siege of Battle of Yorktown in Yorktown, Virginia. Their marching route from Newport, Rhode Island through Connecticut, New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware to the "Head of Elk" by the Susquehanna River along the shores and also partially sailing down the Bay to Virginia. It is also the subject of a designated National Historic Trail as the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route.[citation needed]

The Bay would again see conflict during War of 1812. During the year of 1813, from their base on Tangier Island, British naval forces under the command of Admiral George Cockburn raided several towns on the shores of the Chesapeake, treating the Bay as if it were a "British Lake". The Chesapeake Bay Flotilla, a fleet of shallow-draft armed barges under the command of U.S. Navy Commodore Joshua Barney, was assembled to stall British shore raids and attacks. After months of harassment by Barney, the British landed on the west side of the Patuxent at Benedict, Maryland, the Chesapeake Flotilla was scuttled, and the British trekked overland to rout the U.S. Army at Bladensburg and burn the U.S. Capitol in August 1814. A few days later in a "pincer attack", they also sailed up the Potomac River to attack Fort Washington below the National Capital and raided the nearby port town of Alexandria, Virginia.[citation needed]

There were so-called "Oyster Wars" in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Until the mid-20th century, oyster harvesting rivaled the crab industry among Chesapeake watermen, a dwindling breed whose skipjacks and other workboats were supplanted by recreational craft in the latter part of the century.[51]

In the 1960s, the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant on the historic Calvert Cliffs in Calvert County on the Western Shore of Maryland began using water from the Bay to cool its reactor.[citation needed]

Navigation

 
Lighthouses and lightships such as Chesapeake have helped guide ships into the Bay.

The Chesapeake Bay forms a link in the Intracoastal Waterway, of the bays, sounds and inlets between the off-shore barrier islands and the coastal mainland along the Atlantic coast connecting the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (linking the Bay to the north and the Delaware River) with the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal (linking the Bay, to the south, via the Elizabeth River, by the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth to the Albemarle Sound and Pamlico Sound in North Carolina and further to the Sea Islands of Georgia). A busy shipping channel (dredged by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since the 1850s) runs the length of the Bay, is an important transit route for large vessels entering or leaving the Port of Baltimore, and further north through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to the ports of Wilmington and Philadelphia on the Delaware River.

During the later half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the Bay was plied by passenger steamships and packet boat lines connecting the various cities on it, notably the Baltimore Steam Packet Company ("Old Bay Line").

In the later 20th century, a series of road crossings were built. One, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (also known as the Governor William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge) between the state capital of Annapolis, Maryland and Matapeake on the Eastern Shore, crossing Kent Island, was constructed 1949–1952. A second, parallel, span was added in 1973. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel, connecting Virginia's Eastern Shore with its mainland (at the metropolitan areas of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake), is approximately 20 miles (32 km) long; it has trestle bridges as well as two stretches of two-mile-long (3.2 km) tunnels that allow unimpeded shipping; the bridge is supported by four 5.25-acre (21,200 m2) man-made islands. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel was opened for two lanes in 1964 and four lanes in 1999.[52][53]

Tides

 
Example Chesapeake Bay tides from Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel for quarter and full moons during June 2013

Tides in the Chesapeake Bay exhibit an interesting and unique behavior due to the nature of the topography (both horizontal and vertical shape), wind-driven circulation, and how the Bay interacts with oceanic tides. Research into the peculiar behavior of tides both at the northern and southern extents of the Bay began in the late 1970s. One study noted sea level fluctuations at periods of 5 days, driven by sea level changes at the Bay's mouth on the Atlantic coast and local lateral winds, and 2.5 days, caused by resonant oscillations driven by local longitudinal winds,[54] while another study later found that the geometry of the Bay permits for a resonant period of 1.46 days.[55]

A good example of how the different Chesapeake Bay sites experience different tides can be seen in the tidal predictions published by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (see figure at right).

At the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel (CBBT) site, which lies at the southernmost point of the Bay where it meets the Atlantic Ocean near Norfolk, Virginia, and the capes of Charles and Henry, there is a distinct semi-diurnal tide throughout the lunar month, with small amplitude modulations during spring (new/full moon) vs. neap (one/three quarter moon) tidal periods. The main forcing of the CBBT tides are typical, semi-diurnal ocean tides that the East Coast of the United States experiences.

Baltimore, in the northern portion of the Bay, experiences a noticeable modulation to form its mixed tidal nature during spring vs. neap tides. Spring tides, when the sun-earth-moon system forms a line, cause the largest tidal amplitudes during lunar monthly tidal variations. In contrast, neap tides, when the sun-earth-moon system forms a right angle, are muted, and in a semi-diurnal tidal system (such as that seen at the CBBT site) this can be seen as a lowest intertidal range.

Two interesting points that arise from comparing these two sites at opposite ends of the Bay are their tidal characteristics - semi-diurnal tide for CBBT and mixed tide for Baltimore (due to resonance in the Bay) - and the differences in amplitude (due to dissipation in the Bay).

Economy

Fishing industry

 
A skipjack, part of the oystering fleet in Maryland

The Bay is well-known for its seafood, especially blue crabs,[56] clams, and oysters. In the middle of the 20th century, the Bay supported 9,000 full-time watermen, according to one account.[56] Today, the body of water is less productive than it used to be because of runoff from urban areas (mostly on the Western Shore) and farms (especially on the Eastern Shore and in the Susquehanna River watershed), over-harvesting, and invasion of foreign species.

The plentiful oyster harvests led to the development of the skipjack, the state boat of Maryland, which is the only remaining working boat type in the United States still under sail power. Other characteristic bay-area workboats include sail-powered boats such as the log canoe, the pungy, the bugeye, and the motorized Chesapeake Bay deadrise, the state boat of Virginia.[57]

In addition to harvesting wild oysters, oyster farming is a growing industry in the Bay. Oyster aquaculture is passive in that the Bay provides all the natural oyster food needed, making it an environmentally-friendly practice in contrast to other kinds of fish farming.[58] Oyster farms provide jobs as well as a natural effort for filtering excess nutrients from the water in an effort to reduce the effects of eutrophication pollution (too much algae). The Chesapeake Bay Program promotes oyster restoration projects to reduce the amount of nitrogen compounds entering the bay.[59]

The Bay is famous for its rockfish, a regional name for striped bass. Once on the verge of extinction, rockfish have made a significant comeback because of legislative action that put a moratorium on rockfishing, which allowed the species to re-populate. Rockfish can now be fished in strictly controlled and limited quantities.[citation needed]

Other popular recreational fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay include shad,[60] cobia, croaker, and redfish, winter flounder, and summer flounder. Recently, non-native blue catfish have proliferated in tributaries like the James River and may be moving to other areas of the Bay.[61] A commercial fishery exists for menhaden, too oily for human consumption but instead used for bait, fish oil, and livestock feed.[62]

Tourism and recreation

 
The Thomas Point Shoal Light in Maryland
 
Tidal wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is a main feature for tourists who visit Maryland and Virginia each year.[63] Fishing, crabbing, swimming, boating, kayaking,[23] and sailing are extremely popular activities enjoyed on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. As a result, tourism has a notable impact on Maryland's economy.[64] One report suggested that Annapolis was an appealing spot for families, water sports and boating.[65] Commentator Terry Smith spoke about the Bay's beauty:

The water is glassy, smooth and gorgeous, his wake white against the deep blue. That's the problem with the Chesapeake. It's so damned beautiful.[49]

One account suggested how the Chesapeake attracts people:

You see them everywhere on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the weekend sailors. They are unmistakable with their deep tans, their baggy shorts, their frayed polo shirts, their Top-Siders worn without socks. Some may not even own their own boats, much less win regattas, but they are inexorably drawn to the Chesapeake Bay ... I planned to spend my days boating, eating as many Chesapeake Bay blue crabs as possible and making a little study of Eastern Shore locals. For city folk like me, they're interesting, even exotic –the weather-beaten crabbers and oystermen called "watermen," gentlemen-farmers and sharecroppers, boat builders, antiques dealers – all of whom sound like Southerners with mouthfuls of marbles when they talk. — Susan Spano, Los Angeles Times, 2008[66]

The Chesapeake Bay plays an important role in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania's economies, in addition to the ecosystem. The nature-based recreation of wildlife, boating, and ecotourism are dependent on enforcement of the Clean Water Act (CWA), which regulates pollutant discharges and supports related pollution control programs. In 2006, "roughly eight million wildlife watchers spent $636 million, $960 million, and $1.4 billion in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania" according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.[67]

Cuisine

In colonial times, simple cooking techniques were used to create one pot meals like ham and potato casserole, clam chowder, or stews with common ingredients like oysters, chicken or venison. When John Smith landed in Chesapeake in 1608 he wrote: "The fish were so thick, we attempted to catch them with frying pans". Common regional ingredients in the local cuisine of Chesapeake included terrapins, smoked hams, blue crab, shellfish, local fish, game meats and various species of waterfowl. Blue crab continues to be an especially popular regional specialty.[68]

Environmental issues

Pollution

 
Dead menhaden floating in the bay in 1973
 
Dissolved oxygen levels (Milligrams per liter) required by various marine animals living in the Chesapeake Bay.

In the 1970s, the Chesapeake Bay was found to contain one of the planet's first identified marine dead zones, where waters were so depleted of oxygen that they were unable to support life, resulting in massive fish kills. In 2010 the bay's dead zones were estimated to kill 75,000 tons of bottom-dwelling clams and worms each year, weakening the base of the estuary's food chain and robbing the blue crab in particular of a primary food source. Crabs are sometimes observed to amass on shore to escape pockets of oxygen-poor water, a behavior known as a "crab jubilee". Hypoxia results in part from large algal blooms, which are nourished by the runoff of residential, farm and industrial waste throughout the watershed. A 2010 report criticized Amish farmers in Pennsylvania for raising cows with inadequate controls on the manure that they generate. Farms in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania generate large quantities of manure that washes into tributaries of the bay.[69]

The pollution entering the bay has multiple components that contribute to algal blooms, principally the nutrients phosphorus and nitrogen. The algae prevents sunlight from reaching the bottom of the bay while alive and deoxygenates the bay's water when it dies and rots. Soil erosion and runoff of sediment into the bay, exacerbated by devegetation, construction and the prevalence of pavement in urban and suburban areas, also block vital sunlight. The resulting loss of aquatic vegetation has depleted the habitat for much of the bay's animal life. Beds of eelgrass, the dominant variety in the southern Chesapeake Bay, have shrunk by more than half there since the early 1970s. Overharvesting, pollution, sedimentation and disease have turned much of the bay's bottom into a muddy wasteland.[70]

The principal sources of nutrient pollution in the bay are surface runoff from farms, as well as runoff from urban and suburban areas. About half of the nutrient pollutant loads in the bay are generated by manure and poultry litter.[71] Extensive use of lawn fertilizers[72][73] and air pollution from motor vehicles and power plants are also significant nutrient sources.[74]

One particularly harmful source of toxicity is Pfiesteria piscicida, which can affect both fish and humans. Pfiesteria caused a small regional panic in the late 1990s when a series of large blooms started killing large numbers of fish while giving swimmers mysterious rashes; nutrient runoff from chicken farms was blamed for the growth.[75]

Depletion of oysters

While the bay's salinity is ideal for oysters and the oyster fishery was at one time the bay's most commercially viable,[76] the population has in the last fifty years been devastated. Maryland once had roughly 200,000 acres (810 km2) of oyster reefs. In 2008 there were about 36,000 acres (150 km2).[76] It has been estimated that in pre-colonial times, oysters could filter the entirety of the bay in about 3.3 days; by 1988 this time had increased to 325 days.[77] The harvest's gross value decreased 88% from 1982 to 2007.[78] One report suggested the bay had fewer oysters in 2008 than 25 years earlier.[6] The primary problem is overharvesting. Lax government regulations allow anyone with a license to remove oysters from state-owned beds, and although limits are set, they are not strongly enforced.[76] The overharvesting of oysters has made it difficult for them to reproduce, which requires close proximity to one another. A second cause for the oyster depletion is that the drastic increase in human population caused a sharp increase in pollution flowing into the bay.[76] The bay's oyster industry has also suffered from two diseases: MSX and Dermo.[79]

The depletion of oysters has had a particularly harmful effect on the quality of the bay. Oysters serve as natural water filters, and their decline has further reduced the water quality of the bay. Water that was once clear for meters is now so turbid that a wader may lose sight of his feet while his knees are still dry.[citation needed]

Institutional responses to pollution problems

Concern about the increasing discoveries of bay pollution problems, and of the institutional challenges of organizing bay restoration programs over a large geographical area, led to Congress directing the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take a greater role in studying the scientific and technical aspects of the problems beginning in the late 1970s. The agency conducted its research over a seven-year period and published a major report in 1983. The report stated that the bay was an "ecosystem in decline" and cited numerous instances of declines in the populations of oysters, crabs, freshwater fish and other wildlife.[80][81]

The growing concerns about pollution also prompted the legislatures of Maryland and Virginia to establish the Chesapeake Bay Commission, an advisory body, in 1980. The commission consults with the state legislatures and executive agencies, as well as Congress, about environmental, economic and social issues related to the bay.[82]

As an initial follow-up to the EPA report, the Chesapeake Bay Commission and EPA developed the Chesapeake Bay Agreement in 1983. The agreement was signed by the by the governors of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania; the Mayor of the District of Columbia; and the EPA Administrator. The parties agreed to:

  • creation of an "Executive Council" consisting of cabinet-level appointees from each state and Washington, D.C., and the EPA Regional Administrator
  • the council's creation of an implementation committee to coordinate technical issues and development management plans for bay restoration
  • the establishment of the Chesapeake Bay Program as a liaison office for all of the participating organizations. The program's office, based in Annapolis, is partially funded by EPA and staffed by experts from the member states, EPA and other federal agencies, and academic institutions.[83]

Concurrent with the 1983 agreement EPA began providing matching grants to the bay states for research and restoration projects.[81]

In 1987 the parties agreed to set a goal of reducing the amount of nutrients that enter the bay by 40 percent by 2000. In 1992, the bay program partners agreed to continue the 40 percent reduction goal beyond 2000 and to attack nutrients at their source: upstream, in the bay tributaries.[84]

Restoration efforts

 
A cluster of oysters grown in a sanctuary

Efforts of federal, state and local governments, working in partnership through the Chesapeake Bay Program along with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other nonprofit environmental groups, to restore or at least maintain the current water quality, have had mixed results. One particular obstacle to cleaning up the bay is that much of the polluting substances are discharged far upstream in lying within states far removed from the bay: New York and Pennsylvania. Despite the State of Maryland spending over $100 million to restore the bay, conditions have continued to grow worse. In the mid-20th century, the Bay supported over 6,000 oystermen. As of 2008, there were fewer than 500.[85][needs update]

In June 2000, the Chesapeake Bay Program adopted Chesapeake 2000, an agreement adopted by the member jurisdictions, intended to guide restoration activities throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed through 2010.[86] One component of this agreement was a series of upgrades to sewage treatment plants throughout the watershed. In 2016 EPA stated that the upgrades "have resulted in steep reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus pollution... despite increases in human population and wastewater volume."[87]

EPA published a series of scientific documents on water quality criteria for the bay between 2004 and 2010. The criteria documents, which describe specific pollutants and their effects on aquatic species,[88] are used by the states to develop water quality standards (WQS) for individual water bodies.[89] Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia adopted WQS for various Chesapeake Bay tributaries in the mid-2000s, referencing the EPA criteria documents, as well as their own extensive data gathering and modeling efforts.[90]

Restoration efforts that began in the 1990s have continued into the 21st century and show potential for growth of the native oyster population.[7][8] Efforts to repopulate the bay using oyster hatcheries have been carried out by a group called the Oyster Recovery Partnership, with some success. In 2011 the group placed 6 million oysters on eight acres (32,000 m2) of the Trent Hall sanctuary.[91] Scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at the College of William & Mary claim that experimental reefs created in 2004 now house 180 million native oysters, Crassostrea virginica, which is far fewer than the billions that once existed.[92]

Regulatory actions

 
Sediment sources in the Chesapeake Bay

In 2009 the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) filed suit against EPA for its failure to finalize a total maximum daily load (TMDL) ruling for the bay, pursuant to the Clean Water Act. The TMDL would restrict water pollution from farms, land development, power plants and sewage treatment plants.[93] EPA, which had been working with the states on various components of the TMDL since the 1980s (e.g. water quality criteria, standards for individual tributaries, improvements in data gathering and modeling techniques),[90] agreed to settle the lawsuit and issued its TMDL for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution on December 29, 2010. This was the largest, most complex TMDL document that EPA had issued to date.[94] The TMDL was challenged in litigation by the agriculture and construction industries, but EPA's document was upheld by the courts.[95]

In 2020 the CBF filed another lawsuit against EPA for its failure to require the states of New York and Pennsylvania to comply with their TMDL goals and reduce pollution in the bay.[96]

EPA's 2010 TMDL document requires all states in the bay watershed region to develop detailed implementation plans for pollutant reduction.[97] The states have been developing their plans for years, in many cases building upon restoration projects that they had initiated before EPA's TMDL was finalized.[98] These plans are long and complex, involving regular consultation with many stakeholders (i.e. governments, industry, agriculture, citizen groups). The plans include multiple milestone goals for project initiation or continued progress in water quality, through the use of pollution control upgrades (such as at sewage treatment plants) and more widespread utilization of various best management practices (BMPs). The BMPs are designed for specific sites to control pollution from nonpoint sources, principally agriculture, land development and urban runoff. For example, a farmer may install vegetated stream buffers along a stream bank to reduce runoff of sediment, nutrients and other pollutants.[99] A land developer may install stormwater management facilities such as infiltration basins or constructed wetlands during the construction of housing or commercial buildings.[100]

In 2011 both Maryland and Virginia enacted laws to reduce the effects of lawn fertilizer use, by restricting nitrogen and phosphorus content.[101] The Virginia law also banned deicers containing urea, nitrogen or phosphorus.[102]

Installation of stormwater management facilities is already a requirement for most new construction projects in the bay region, under various state and local government requirements. These facilities reduce erosion and keep sediment and other pollutants from entering tributaries and the bay.[103] However retrofitting such facilities into existing developed areas is often expensive due to high land costs, or difficult to install among existing structures. As a result the extent of such retrofit projects in the bay region has been limited.[104]

Water quality improvements

In 2010 bay health improved slightly in terms of the overall health of its ecosystem, earning a rating of 31 out of 100, up from a 28 rating in 2008.[3][needs update] An estimate in 2006 from a "blue ribbon panel" said cleanup costs would be $15 billion.[49] Compounding the problem is that 100,000 new residents move to the area each year.[49] A 2008 Washington Post report suggested that government administrators had overstated progress on cleanup efforts as a way to "preserve the flow of federal and state money to the project."[105] In January 2011, there were reports that millions of fish had died, but officials suggested it was probably the result of extremely cold weather.[106]

The health of the Chesapeake Bay improved in 2015, marking three years of gains over a four-year period, according to a 2016 report by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES).[9] In 2021 scientists at the UMCES reported slight improvements in bay water quality compared to levels measured in 2020. The greatest improvements were seen in the lower bay areas, while the Patapsco River and Back River (Maryland) regions showed minimal improvement. Positive indicators included decreased nitrogen levels and increases in dissolved oxygen.[10]

The CBF reported that as of 2022 pollution control efforts in the bay have continued to show mixed results, with no improvement in levels of toxic contaminants, nitrogen and dissolved oxygen, and a small decrease in water clarity compared to 2020 levels (measured as Secchi depth). Oyster and rockfish populations in the bay have improved, but blue crab populations have continued to decline.[107]

Climate change

The Chesapeake Bay is already experiencing the effects of climate change. Key among these is sea level rise: water levels in the bay have already risen one foot, with a predicted increase of 1.3 to 5.2 feet in the next 100 years. This has related environmental effects, causing changes in marine ecosystems, destruction of coastal marshes and wetlands, and intrusion of saltwater into otherwise brackish parts of the bay. Sea level rise also compounds the effects of extreme weather on the bay, making coastal flooding as part of the events more extreme and increasing runoff from upstream in the watershed.[11][108]

With increases in flooding events and sea level rise, the 11,600 miles of coastline, which include significant historic buildings and modern infrastructure, will be at risk of erosion. Islands such as Holland Island have disappeared due to the rising sea levels.[109][110]

Beyond sea level rise, other changes in the marine ecosystem due to climate change, such as ocean acidification and temperature increases, will put increasing pressure on marine life. Projected effects include decreasing dissolved oxygen, more acidic waters making it harder for shellfish to maintain shells, and changing the seasonal cycles important for breeding and other lifecycle activities.[11] Seasonal shifts and warmer temperatures also mean that there is a greater likelihood of pathogens to stay active in the ecosystem.[108]

Climate change may worsen hypoxia. However, compared to the current effects of nutrient pollution and algal blooms, climate change’s effect to increase hypoxia is relatively small. Warmer waters can hold less dissolved oxygen. Therefore, as the Bay warms, there may be a longer duration of hypoxia each summer season in the deep central channel of the Bay. However, comparing the effects of climate change and nutrient pollution, reduced nutrient pollution would increase oxygen concentrations more dramatically than if climate change were to level out.[111]

Climate change adaptation and mitigation programs in Maryland and Virginia often include significant programs to address the communities in the Chesapeake Bay.[112] Key infrastructure in Virginia, such as the port of Norfolk,[112] and major agriculture and fishing industries of the Eastern Shore of Maryland will be directly impacted by the changes in the Bay.[113]

Scientific research

 
Maryland Department of Natural Resources survey vessel tied up to a private dock with a continuous monitoring station.

Researchers work in the Chesapeake Bay to collect information about water quality, plant and animal abundances, shoreline erosion, tides, waves, and harmful algal blooms. For example, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science monitors the abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation in the shallow areas of the Chesapeake Bay each summer.[114] Many organizations run continuous monitoring programs. Monitoring programs set out instruments at fixed stations on buoys, moorings, and docks throughout the Bay to record things like temperature, salinity, chlorophyll-a concentration, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity over time.[115][116][117]

Organizations actively collecting data in the Chesapeake Bay include, but are not limited to:

Underwater archaeology

Underwater archaeology is a subfield of archaeology that focuses on the exploration of submerged archaeological sites in seas, rivers, and other bodies of water. In 1988, the Maryland Maritime Archeology Program (MMAP) was established with the goal to manage and explore the various underwater archaeological sites that line the Chesapeake Bay. This was in response to the National Abandoned Shipwreck Act passed in 1987, which gave ownership of historically significant shipwrecks to those states with proper management programs.[119]

Water makes up 25% of the State of Maryland and there are over 550 submerged archaeological sites that have been located across the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding watersheds. Ranging from 12,000-year-old, precolonial native settlements to shipwrecks from as recent as World War II, the MMAP researches thousands of years worth of history in these archaeological sites. Susan Langley has been Maryland's State Underwater Archaeologist, one of only nine state-appointed underwater archaeologists in the United States, since assuming the role in 1995. Before Langley was hired, only 1% of the underwater archaeological sites in the bay area had been examined. Over the next 10 years, Langley made significant improvements to the MMAP's marine technology, allowing her and her team to explore 34% of the underwater archaeological sites by 2004.[citation needed]

Location and research processes

The Chesapeake Bay watershed has been heavily impacted by natural forces such as erosion, tides, and a history of hurricanes and other storms. Along with environmental factors, the bay has been negatively impacted by humans since being settled in the 17th century, bringing with them problems like pollution, construction, and destruction of the environment. All of these circumstances have made it increasingly difficult for the MMAP to identify potential underwater archaeological sites. As sea levels rise and historically significant areas are sunk and covered in sediment, the MMAP relies on various pieces of equipment to locate these man-made anomalies but also ensure that the material being examined is kept intact. Using marine magnetometers(detects iron/absent space), side-scan sonar,(detects objects on sea floor), along with precise global positioning systems, Langley and the MMAP have been much more successful in locating submerged archaeological sites. After locating the site, Langley and her team have a strict process in order to preserve the site and its contents, allowing more accurate and thorough research to be conducted. The remains of nearly every site have been submerged in saltwater for sometimes centuries, the integrity of shipwrecks and other materials are fragile and careful precaution must be used when working with them. Taking photos and videos, creating maps, and constructing models are all a part of the process of preserving remains. Susan Langley notes herself, “If you have only ten percent of a ship’s hull, you can reconstruct the ship. Construction techniques can tell us about the people who built the vessels, artifacts can tell us about the people who profited from the ship’s trade, and eco-facts—evidence of insect infestation and organic remains, such as seeds, that are preserved in anaerobic, muddy environments—can tell us about the climate and season when a ship sank."[120] Still, the MMAP makes it a point to publish their data and information once a site is officially identified; however, the details of the location are left out to sway would-be looters, who have plagued marine archaeologists for decades.

Significant sites

Altogether there are more than 1,800 ship and boat wrecks that scatter the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding waterways.[121] Dozens of precolonial era canoes and artifacts have been extracted from the bay, helping to portray a better picture of the lives of Native Americans (e.g., Powhatan, Pamunkey, Nansemond) In 2014, underwater archaeologists identified the skull of a prehistoric mastodon, which through carbon dating was found to be 22,000 years old. Along with the skull, a carved blade was also discovered in the same area. Unable to accurately carbon date the stone tool, archaeologists looked at similar styles of blade carving in order to gauge when it was made. The technique was similar to the Solutrean tools that were crafted in Europe between 22,000 and 17,000 years ago and it was noted that the stone tool must be at least 14,000 years old. The Solutrean hypothesis challenges the previous theory regarding the first inhabitants of North America, whereas it is commonly accepted amongst anthropologists that the Clovis people were the first to settle the region somewhere around 13,000 years ago. There is some controversy surrounding these findings; many anthropologists have disputed this, claiming that the environment and setting make properly identifying the origins of these artifacts nearly impossible.[122]

The Chesapeake Bay Flotilla, which was constructed using shallow barges and ships to provide a blockade to the British during the War of 1812. After holding strong for some months, the British eventually dispersed the flotilla and dozens of these vessels were burnt and sunk. Starting in 1978, there were numerous expeditions launched in hopes of successfully discovering what was left of the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla. Since then, hundreds of artifacts and remains have been extracted from the submerged ships such as weapons, personal items, and many other objects. Underwater archaeologists have also been successful in constructing accurate models and maps of the wreckage amongst the sea floor.[123]

In October 1774, a British merchant ship arrived at the port of Annapolis loaded with tea disguised as linens and garments. The tea was hidden by the British to avoid conflict with the colonists as the recently imposed tea tax had created hostility and uncertainty among the colonies. Named Peggy Stewart, the British vessel arrived and attempted to tax the colonists for the purchased tea. The colonists refused to pay the tax and after a few days of public meetings, the colonists decided to burn Peggy Stewart and the contents of it. The British ship was sunk in what became known as the 'Annapolis Tea Party' and has since become an important site for underwater archaeologists in the Chesapeake Bay.[124] In 1949, after the Nazi's defeat in World War 2, the United States seized a German U-1105 built with sonar-evading rubber sheathing for study purposes. It was sunk the same year in the Potomac River off of the Chesapeake Bay following a high explosives test hosted by the U.S. Navy and has since been a popular site for underwater archaeologists.[125]

Maryland has controlled the majority of underwater archaeology research around the Chesapeake Bay; however, Virginia's Department of Historic Resources has had a State Underwater Archaeologist since the 1970s. In 1982, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources along with the first State Underwater Archaeologist, John Broadwater, led an expedition to explore and research a sunken fleet of Revolution-era battleships. In September 1781, during the Revolutionary War, the British intentionally sunk more than a dozen ships in the York River, near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Led by Lord Charles Cornwallis, a fleet of British ships was pushed back towards the rivers of the Chesapeake, in a desperate attempt to avoid surrendering, Cornwallis began burning and sinking his own vessels with the hopes of stalling the incoming French and American ships. Cornwallis was eventually forced to surrender on October 19 and the ships along with its contents were at the bottom of the York River. One of the British ships, called Betsy, has been explored more than any other and over 5,000 relics were removed from Betsy on their original expedition in 1982, including weapons, personal objects, and some valuable metals. Broadwater and his team were awarded a 20-page article in the magazine National Geographic for their findings. Virginia has recently been granted funding for further research of these sunken vessels and expeditions are currently underway with the goal to fully explore this destroyed fleet of British ships. Unfortunately, following the publicity of these sunken ships, many divers have taken it upon themselves to explore the wreckage for 'treasure'.[126]

Publications

There are several magazines and publications that cover topics directly related to the Chesapeake Bay and life and tourism within the Bay region.

  • The Bay Journal provides environmental news for the Chesapeake Bay watershed region.[127]
  • Bay Weekly is the Chesapeake Bay region's independent newspaper.[128]
  • The Capital, a newspaper based in Annapolis, reports about news pertaining to the Western Shore of Maryland and the Annapolis area.[129]
  • Chesapeake Bay Magazine and PropTalk focus on powerboating in the Bay,[130][131] and SpinSheet focuses on sailing.[132]
  • What's Up Magazine is a free monthly publication with special issues focused on Annapolis and the Eastern Shore.[133]

Cultural depictions

In literature

In film

In TV

  • In Chesapeake Shores, the O'Brien family lives in a small town in the Bay, not far from Baltimore.
  • In MeatEater by Steven Rinella, Season 8, Episode 3-4 "Ghosts of the Chesapeake" features the Chesapeake Bay eastern shore. [139]

Other media

  • Singer and songwriter Tom Wisner recorded several albums, often about the Chesapeake Bay. The Boston Globe wrote that Wisner "always tried to capture the voice of the water and the sky, of the rocks and the trees, of the fish and the birds, of the gods of nature he believed still watched over it all."[140] He was known as the Bard of the Chesapeake Bay.[140]
  • The Chesapeake Bay is referenced in the hit musical Hamilton, in the song "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)." It describes the famous Battle of Yorktown, the last battle in the Revolutionary War. When describing the US army's plan for attack, Hamilton sings: "When we finally drive the British away, Lafayette is there waiting in Chesapeake Bay!"

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Residence time ranges from 110 to 264 days with an average of 180 days based on circulation in the years 1980 to 2012.[1]

References

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  91. ^ Program turns pork into oysters 2011-04-12 at the Wayback Machine, Jesse Yeatman, South Maryland Newspapers Online, August 12, 2009.
  92. ^ Fountain, Henry (August 3, 2009). "Oysters Are on the Rebound in the Chesapeake Bay". The New York Times.
  93. ^ Fahrenthold, David A. (2009-01-06). "Bay Advocates Sue EPA". The Washington Post.
  94. ^ Chesapeake Bay TMDL Executive Summary (PDF) (Report). EPA. 2010-12-29.
  95. ^ Fears, Darryl (2016-03-01). "Supreme Court ends challenge to the Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan". The Washington Post.
  96. ^ Finley, Ben (2020-09-10). "Lawsuit: EPA fails to enforce Chesapeake Bay pollution caps". The Washington Post. Associated Press.
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  98. ^ For example, see "Maryland's Two-Year Milestones", documents issued biennially outlining the state's projects and goals for pollution reduction. The state intends to initiate "all necessary pollution reduction actions" by 2025. "Maryland's Two-Year Milestones". Baltimore, MD: Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). Retrieved 2021-12-24.
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  101. ^ Pimental, Alicia (2011-05-23). "Maryland passes law to reduce pollution from lawn fertilizer". Chesapeake Bay Program.
  102. ^ Pimental, Alicia (2011-08-18). "Va. governor signs bill banning phosphorus lawn fertilizer". Chesapeake Bay Program.
  103. ^ For example, see the Maryland Stormwater Design Manual, Volumes I and II (Report). MDE. May 2009.
  104. ^ Constructing Stormwater Retrofits in Maryland: Challenges & Recommendations for Cost Estimation (Report). Ellicott City, MD: Center for Watershed Protection. January 2019.
  105. ^ Fahrenthold, David A. (2008-12-27). "Failing the Chesapeake Bay—Broken Promises on the Bay". The Washington Post.
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Further reading

  • Cleaves, E.T. et al. (2006). Quaternary geologic map of the Chesapeake Bay 4º x 6º quadrangle, United States [Miscellaneous Investigations Series; Map I-1420 (NJ-18)]. Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
  • Meyers, Debra and Perrealt, Melanie (eds.) (2014). Order and Civility in the Early Modern Chesapeake. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
  • Phillips, S.W., ed. (2007). Synthesis of U.S. Geological Survey science for the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and implications for environmental management [U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1316]. Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
  • Thomas, William G., III. "The Chesapeake Bay." Southern Spaces, April 16, 2004.
  • William W. Warner, Beautiful Swimmers, about the history, ecology and anthropology of the Chesapeake Bay, published 1976

External links

 
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Chesapeake Bay.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chesapeake Bay.
  • Chesapeake Bay History & Culture, U.S. National Park Service
  • Chesapeake Bay Program
  • University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Research and science application activities emphasizing Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.
  • Maryland Department of Natural Resources Eyes on the Bay Real-time and historical Chesapeake Bay water quality and satellite data.

January 31, 2023
chesapeake, chess, peek, largest, estuary, united, states, located, atlantic, region, primarily, separated, from, atlantic, ocean, delmarva, peninsula, including, parts, eastern, shore, maryland, eastern, shore, virginia, state, delaware, with, mouth, south, l. The Chesapeake Bay ˈ tʃ ɛ s e p iː k CHESS e peek is the largest estuary in the United States The Bay is located in the Mid Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula including the parts the Eastern Shore of Maryland Eastern Shore of Virginia and the state of Delaware with its mouth of the Bay at the south end located between Cape Henry and Cape Charles 3 With its northern portion in Maryland and the southern part in Virginia the Chesapeake Bay is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states as well as others surrounding within its watershed More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the Bay s 64 299 square mile 166 534 km2 drainage basin which covers parts of six states New York Pennsylvania Delaware Maryland Virginia and West Virginia and all of District of Columbia 3 4 Chesapeake BayThe Chesapeake Bay Landsat satellite imageChesapeake Bay Watershed extends north east west into six adjoining American states Maryland Virginia West Virginia Delaware Pennsylvania and New York state plus the federal capital city of Washington in the District of Columbia Chesapeake BayLocationMaryland VirginiaCoordinates37 48 N 76 06 W 37 8 N 76 1 W 37 8 76 1 Coordinates 37 48 N 76 06 W 37 8 N 76 1 W 37 8 76 1TypeEstuaryEtymologyChesepiooc Algonquian for village at a big river Primary inflowsSusquehanna River moutheast of Havre de Grace MarylandRiver sourcesDeer Creek Bush River Gunpowder River Back River Patapsco River Severn River Patuxent River Potomac River Rappahannock River York River James River Chester River Choptank River Nanticoke River Pocomoke RiverPrimary outflowsAtlantic Oceannorth of Virginia Beach Virginia36 59 45 N 75 57 34 W 36 99583 N 75 95944 W 36 99583 75 95944Catchment area64 299 sq mi 166 530 km2 Basin countriesUnited StatesMax length200 mi 320 km Max width30 mi 48 km Surface area4 479 sq mi 11 600 km2 Average depth21 ft 6 4 m Residence time180 days note 1 SettlementsAnnapolis Baltimore Cambridge Cape Charles Chesapeake Chesapeake Beach Elkton Hampton Havre de Grace Newport News Norfolk Portsmouth Virginia BeachReferencesRamsar WetlandOfficial nameChesapeake Bay Estuarine ComplexDesignated4 June 1987Reference no 375 2 The Bay is approximately 200 miles 320 km long from its northern headwaters in the Susquehanna River to its outlet in the Atlantic Ocean It is 2 8 miles 4 5 km wide at its narrowest between Kent County s Plum Point near Newtown in the east and the Harford County western shore near Romney Creek and 30 miles 48 km at its widest just south of the mouth of the Potomac River which divides Maryland from Virginia Total shoreline including tributaries is 11 684 miles 18 804 km circumnavigating a surface area of 4 479 square miles 11 601 km2 Average depth is 21 feet 6 4 m reaching a maximum of 174 feet 53 m 5 The Bay is spanned twice in Maryland by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from Sandy Point near Annapolis to Kent Island and in Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel connecting Virginia Beach to Cape Charles Known for both its beauty and bounty the Bay has become emptier with fewer crabs oysters and watermen fishermen since the mid 20th century 6 Nutrient pollution and urban runoff have been identified as major components of impaired water quality in the bay stressing ecosystems and compounding the decline of shellfish due to overharvesting Restoration efforts that began in the 1990s have continued into the 21st century and show potential for growth of the native oyster population 7 8 The health of the Chesapeake Bay improved in 2015 marking three years of gains over a four year period 9 Slight improvements in water quality were observed in 2021 compared to indicators measured in 2020 10 The bay is experiencing other environmental concerns including climate change which is causing sea level rise that erodes coastal areas and infrastructure and changes to the marine ecosystem 11 Contents 1 Etymology 2 Physical geography 2 1 Geology and formation 2 2 Hydrology 3 Flora and fauna 4 History 4 1 Pre Columbian 4 2 European exploration and settlement 4 3 American Revolution to the present 5 Navigation 5 1 Tides 6 Economy 6 1 Fishing industry 6 2 Tourism and recreation 7 Cuisine 8 Environmental issues 8 1 Pollution 8 2 Depletion of oysters 8 3 Institutional responses to pollution problems 8 4 Restoration efforts 8 5 Regulatory actions 8 6 Water quality improvements 8 7 Climate change 8 8 Scientific research 9 Underwater archaeology 9 1 Location and research processes 9 2 Significant sites 10 Publications 11 Cultural depictions 11 1 In literature 11 2 In film 11 3 In TV 11 4 Other media 12 See also 13 Notes 14 References 15 Further reading 16 External linksEtymology EditThe word Chesepiooc is an Algonquian word referring to a village at a big river It is the seventh oldest surviving English place name in the United States first applied as Chesepiook by explorers heading north from the Roanoke Colony into a Chesapeake tributary in 1585 or 1586 The name may also refer to the Chesapeake people or the Chesepian a Native American tribe who inhabited the area now known as South Hampton Roads in the U S state of Virginia They occupied an area that is now the Norfolk Portsmouth Chesapeake and Virginia Beach areas 12 In 2005 Algonquian linguist Blair Rudes helped to dispel one of the area s most widely held beliefs that Chesapeake means something like great shellfish bay It does not Rudes said The name might have actually meant something like great water or it might have just referred to a village location at the Bay s mouth 13 Physical geography EditGeology and formation Edit Boundaries of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater The Chesapeake Bay is an estuary to the North Atlantic lying between the Delmarva Peninsula to the east and the North American mainland to the west It is the ria or drowned valley of the Susquehanna River meaning that it was the alluvial plain where the river flowed when the sea level was lower It is not a fjord because the Laurentide Ice Sheet never reached as far south as the northernmost point on the Bay North of Baltimore the western shore borders the hilly Piedmont region of Maryland south of the city the Bay lies within the state s low lying coastal plain with sedimentary cliffs to the west and flat islands winding creeks and marshes to the east The large rivers entering the Bay from the west have broad mouths and are extensions of the main ria for miles up the course of each river The Bay s geology its present form and its very location were created by a bolide impact event at the end of the Eocene about 35 5 million years ago forming the Chesapeake Bay impact crater and much later the Susquehanna River valley The Bay was formed starting about 10 000 years ago when rising sea levels at the end of the last ice age flooded the Susquehanna River valley 4 Parts of the Bay especially the Calvert County Maryland coastline are lined by cliffs composed of deposits from receding waters millions of years ago These cliffs generally known as Calvert Cliffs are famous for their fossils especially fossilized shark teeth which are commonly found washed up on the beaches next to the cliffs Scientists Cliffs is a beach community in Calvert County named for the desire to create a retreat for scientists when the community was founded in 1935 14 Hydrology Edit View of the Eastern Bay in Maryland at sunset The Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis Maryland Much of the Bay is shallow At the point where the Susquehanna River flows into the Bay the average depth is 30 feet 9 m although this soon diminishes to an average of 10 feet 3 m southeast of the city of Havre de Grace Maryland to about 35 feet 11 m just north of Annapolis On average the depth of the Bay is 21 feet 6 4 m including tributaries 15 over 24 percent of the Bay is less than 6 ft 2 m deep 16 Because the Bay is an estuary it has fresh water salt water and brackish water Brackish water has three salinity zones oligohaline mesohaline and polyhaline The freshwater zone runs from the mouth of the Susquehanna River to north Baltimore The oligohaline zone has very little salt Salinity varies from 0 5 ppt parts per thousand to 10 ppt and freshwater species can survive there The north end of the oligohaline zone is north Baltimore and the south end is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge The mesohaline zone has a medium amount of salt and runs from the Bay Bridge to the mouth of the Rappahannock River Salinity there ranges from 1 07 to 1 8 The polyhaline zone is the saltiest zone and some of the water can be as salty as sea water It runs from the mouth of the Rappahannock River to the mouth of the Bay The salinity ranges from 1 87 to 3 6 3 6 is as salty as the ocean 17 The climate of the area surrounding the Bay is primarily humid subtropical with hot very humid summers and cold to mild winters Only the area around the mouth of the Susquehanna River is continental in nature and the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the Susquehanna flats often freeze in winter It is rare for the surface of the Bay to freeze in winter something that happened most recently in the winter of 1976 77 18 The Chesapeake Bay is the end point of over 150 rivers and streams 19 The largest rivers flowing directly into the Bay in order of discharge 20 21 are Susquehanna River Potomac River James River Rappahannock River York River Patuxent River Choptank RiverFor more information on Chesapeake Bay rivers see the List of Chesapeake Bay rivers The Bay viewed from a planeFlora and fauna Edit Food chain diagram for waterbirds of the Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay is home to numerous fauna that either migrate to the Bay at some point during the year or live there year round There are over 300 species of fish and numerous shellfish and crab species Some of these include the Atlantic menhaden striped bass American eel eastern oyster Atlantic horseshoe crab and the blue crab 22 Birds include ospreys great blue herons bald eagles 23 and peregrine falcons the last two of which were threatened by DDT their numbers plummeted but have risen in recent years 24 The piping plover is a near threatened species that inhabits the wetlands 24 Larger fish such as Atlantic sturgeon 25 varieties of sharks 26 27 and stingrays visit the Chesapeake Bay 28 The waters of the Chesapeake Bay have been regarded as one of the most important nursery areas for sharks along the east coast 29 Megafaunas such as bull sharks tiger sharks scalloped hammerhead sharks and basking sharks 29 and manta rays are also known to visit Smaller species of sharks and stingrays that are known to be regular to occasional residents in the bay include the smooth dogfish spiny dogfish cownose ray and bonnethead Bottlenose dolphins are known to live seasonally yearly in the Bay 30 There have been unconfirmed sightings of humpback whales in recent years 31 32 Endangered North Atlantic right whale 33 and fin and minke and sei whales have also been sighted within and in the vicinity of the Bay 28 A male manatee visited the Bay several times between 1994 and 2011 even though the area is north of the species normal range The manatee recognizable due to distinct markings on its body was nicknamed Chessie after a legendary sea monster that was allegedly sighted in the Bay during the 20th century 34 35 36 The same manatee has been spotted as far north as Rhode Island and was the first manatee known to travel so far north 37 Other manatees are occasionally seen in the Bay and its tributaries which contain sea grasses that are part of the manatee s diet 38 Loggerhead turtles are known to visit the Bay 28 The Chesapeake Bay is also home to a diverse flora both land and aquatic Common submerged aquatic vegetation includes eelgrass and widgeon grass A report in 2011 suggested that information on underwater grasses would be released because submerged grasses provide food and habitat for a number of species adding oxygen to the water and improving water clarity 39 Other vegetation that makes its home in other parts of the Bay are wild rice various trees like the red maple loblolly pine and bald cypress and spartina grass and phragmites 40 Invasive plants have taken a significant foothold in the Bay plants such as Brazilian waterweed native to South America have spread to most continents with the help of aquarium owners who often dump the contents of their aquariums into nearby lakes and streams It is highly invasive and has the potential to flourish in the low salinity tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay Dense stands of Brazilian waterweed can restrict water movement trap sediment and affect water quality Various local K 12 schools in the Maryland and Virginia region often have programs that cultivate native bay grasses and plant them in the Bay History EditPre Columbian Edit The Chesapeake Bay has had a human presence for over 11 500 years citation needed Paleoindians or the first humans in the Chesapeake Bay region lived off the land by hunting game and living off the earth in small nomadic groups Archeologists have also noted the presence of foreign stones in projectile points that came via trade from other parts of North America For thousands of years Native American societies lived in villages of wooden longhouses close to water bodies where they fished and farmed the land Agricultural products included beans corn tobacco and squash Villages often lasted between 10 and 20 years before being abandoned due to local resources such as firewood running out or soil depleting 41 To produce enough food labor was divided with men hunting while the women supervised the village s farming All village members took part in the harvesting of fish and shellfish from the local bodies of water As time went on communities around Chesapeake Bay formed confederations such as the Powhatan the Piscataway and the Nanticoke Each of these confederations consisted of a collections of smaller tribes falling under the leadership of a central chief 42 European exploration and settlement Edit Revised map 43 of John White s original by Theodore DeBry In this 1590 version the Chesapeake Bay appears named for the first time 44 Later 1630 version of the 1612 map by Captain John Smith during his exploration of the Chesapeake The map is oriented with west at top In 1524 Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano 1485 1528 in service of the French crown famous for sailing through and thereafter naming the entrance to New York Bay as the Verrazzano Narrows including now in the 20th century a suspension bridge also named for him sailed past the Chesapeake but did not enter the Bay 45 Spanish explorer Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon sent an expedition out from Hispaniola in 1525 that reached the mouths of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays It may have been the first European expedition to explore parts of the Chesapeake Bay which the Spaniards called Bahia de Santa Maria Bay of St Mary or Bahia de Madre de Dios Bay of the Mother of God 46 De Ayllon established a short lived Spanish mission settlement San Miguel de Gualdape in 1526 along the Atlantic coast Many scholars doubt the assertion that it was as far north as the Chesapeake most place it in present day Georgia s Sapelo Island 47 In 1573 Pedro Menendez de Marquez the governor of Spanish Florida conducted further exploration of the Chesapeake 45 In 1570 Spanish Jesuits established the short lived Ajacan Mission on one of the Chesapeake tributaries in present day Virginia citation needed The arrival of English colonists under Sir Walter Raleigh and Humphrey Gilbert in the late 16th century to found a colony later settled at Roanoke Island off the present day coast of North Carolina for the Virginia Company marked the first time that the English approached the gates to the Chesapeake Bay between the capes of Cape Charles and Cape Henry Three decades later in 1607 Europeans again entered the Bay Captain John Smith of England explored and mapped the Bay between 1607 and 1609 resulting in the publication in 1612 back in the British Isles of A Map of Virginia 48 Smith wrote in his journal Heaven and earth have never agreed better to frame a place for man s habitation 49 The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail the first designated all water National Historic Trail in the US was established in 2006 by the National Park Service The trail follows the route of Smith s historic 17th century voyage 50 Because of economic hardships and civil strife in the Mother Land there was a mass migration of southern English Cavaliers and their servants to the Chesapeake Bay region between 1640 and 1675 to both of the new colonies of the Province of Virginia and the Province of Maryland citation needed American Revolution to the present Edit Oyster boats at war off the Maryland shore 1886 wood engraving Regulation of the oyster beds in Virginia and Maryland has existed since the 19th century The Chesapeake Bay was the site of the Battle of the Chesapeake also known as the Battle of the Capes Cape Charles and Cape Henry in 1781 during which the French fleet defeated the Royal Navy in the decisive naval battle of the American Revolutionary War The British defeat enabled General George Washington and his French allied armies under Comte de Rochambeau to march down from New York and bottle up the rampaging southern British Army of Lord Cornwallis from the North and South Carolinas at the siege of Battle of Yorktown in Yorktown Virginia Their marching route from Newport Rhode Island through Connecticut New York State Pennsylvania New Jersey and Delaware to the Head of Elk by the Susquehanna River along the shores and also partially sailing down the Bay to Virginia It is also the subject of a designated National Historic Trail as the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route citation needed The Bay would again see conflict during War of 1812 During the year of 1813 from their base on Tangier Island British naval forces under the command of Admiral George Cockburn raided several towns on the shores of the Chesapeake treating the Bay as if it were a British Lake The Chesapeake Bay Flotilla a fleet of shallow draft armed barges under the command of U S Navy Commodore Joshua Barney was assembled to stall British shore raids and attacks After months of harassment by Barney the British landed on the west side of the Patuxent at Benedict Maryland the Chesapeake Flotilla was scuttled and the British trekked overland to rout the U S Army at Bladensburg and burn the U S Capitol in August 1814 A few days later in a pincer attack they also sailed up the Potomac River to attack Fort Washington below the National Capital and raided the nearby port town of Alexandria Virginia citation needed There were so called Oyster Wars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Until the mid 20th century oyster harvesting rivaled the crab industry among Chesapeake watermen a dwindling breed whose skipjacks and other workboats were supplanted by recreational craft in the latter part of the century 51 In the 1960s the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant on the historic Calvert Cliffs in Calvert County on the Western Shore of Maryland began using water from the Bay to cool its reactor citation needed Navigation Edit Lighthouses and lightships such as Chesapeake have helped guide ships into the Bay The Chesapeake Bay forms a link in the Intracoastal Waterway of the bays sounds and inlets between the off shore barrier islands and the coastal mainland along the Atlantic coast connecting the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal linking the Bay to the north and the Delaware River with the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal linking the Bay to the south via the Elizabeth River by the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth to the Albemarle Sound and Pamlico Sound in North Carolina and further to the Sea Islands of Georgia A busy shipping channel dredged by the U S Army Corps of Engineers since the 1850s runs the length of the Bay is an important transit route for large vessels entering or leaving the Port of Baltimore and further north through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to the ports of Wilmington and Philadelphia on the Delaware River During the later half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century the Bay was plied by passenger steamships and packet boat lines connecting the various cities on it notably the Baltimore Steam Packet Company Old Bay Line In the later 20th century a series of road crossings were built One the Chesapeake Bay Bridge also known as the Governor William Preston Lane Jr Memorial Bridge between the state capital of Annapolis Maryland and Matapeake on the Eastern Shore crossing Kent Island was constructed 1949 1952 A second parallel span was added in 1973 The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel connecting Virginia s Eastern Shore with its mainland at the metropolitan areas of Virginia Beach Norfolk Portsmouth and Chesapeake is approximately 20 miles 32 km long it has trestle bridges as well as two stretches of two mile long 3 2 km tunnels that allow unimpeded shipping the bridge is supported by four 5 25 acre 21 200 m2 man made islands The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel was opened for two lanes in 1964 and four lanes in 1999 52 53 Tides Edit Example Chesapeake Bay tides from Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel for quarter and full moons during June 2013 Tides in the Chesapeake Bay exhibit an interesting and unique behavior due to the nature of the topography both horizontal and vertical shape wind driven circulation and how the Bay interacts with oceanic tides Research into the peculiar behavior of tides both at the northern and southern extents of the Bay began in the late 1970s One study noted sea level fluctuations at periods of 5 days driven by sea level changes at the Bay s mouth on the Atlantic coast and local lateral winds and 2 5 days caused by resonant oscillations driven by local longitudinal winds 54 while another study later found that the geometry of the Bay permits for a resonant period of 1 46 days 55 A good example of how the different Chesapeake Bay sites experience different tides can be seen in the tidal predictions published by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA see figure at right At the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel CBBT site which lies at the southernmost point of the Bay where it meets the Atlantic Ocean near Norfolk Virginia and the capes of Charles and Henry there is a distinct semi diurnal tide throughout the lunar month with small amplitude modulations during spring new full moon vs neap one three quarter moon tidal periods The main forcing of the CBBT tides are typical semi diurnal ocean tides that the East Coast of the United States experiences Baltimore in the northern portion of the Bay experiences a noticeable modulation to form its mixed tidal nature during spring vs neap tides Spring tides when the sun earth moon system forms a line cause the largest tidal amplitudes during lunar monthly tidal variations In contrast neap tides when the sun earth moon system forms a right angle are muted and in a semi diurnal tidal system such as that seen at the CBBT site this can be seen as a lowest intertidal range Two interesting points that arise from comparing these two sites at opposite ends of the Bay are their tidal characteristics semi diurnal tide for CBBT and mixed tide for Baltimore due to resonance in the Bay and the differences in amplitude due to dissipation in the Bay Economy EditFishing industry Edit A skipjack part of the oystering fleet in Maryland The Bay is well known for its seafood especially blue crabs 56 clams and oysters In the middle of the 20th century the Bay supported 9 000 full time watermen according to one account 56 Today the body of water is less productive than it used to be because of runoff from urban areas mostly on the Western Shore and farms especially on the Eastern Shore and in the Susquehanna River watershed over harvesting and invasion of foreign species The plentiful oyster harvests led to the development of the skipjack the state boat of Maryland which is the only remaining working boat type in the United States still under sail power Other characteristic bay area workboats include sail powered boats such as the log canoe the pungy the bugeye and the motorized Chesapeake Bay deadrise the state boat of Virginia 57 In addition to harvesting wild oysters oyster farming is a growing industry in the Bay Oyster aquaculture is passive in that the Bay provides all the natural oyster food needed making it an environmentally friendly practice in contrast to other kinds of fish farming 58 Oyster farms provide jobs as well as a natural effort for filtering excess nutrients from the water in an effort to reduce the effects of eutrophication pollution too much algae The Chesapeake Bay Program promotes oyster restoration projects to reduce the amount of nitrogen compounds entering the bay 59 The Bay is famous for its rockfish a regional name for striped bass Once on the verge of extinction rockfish have made a significant comeback because of legislative action that put a moratorium on rockfishing which allowed the species to re populate Rockfish can now be fished in strictly controlled and limited quantities citation needed Other popular recreational fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay include shad 60 cobia croaker and redfish winter flounder and summer flounder Recently non native blue catfish have proliferated in tributaries like the James River and may be moving to other areas of the Bay 61 A commercial fishery exists for menhaden too oily for human consumption but instead used for bait fish oil and livestock feed 62 Tourism and recreation Edit The Thomas Point Shoal Light in Maryland Tidal wetlands of the Chesapeake BayThe Chesapeake Bay is a main feature for tourists who visit Maryland and Virginia each year 63 Fishing crabbing swimming boating kayaking 23 and sailing are extremely popular activities enjoyed on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay As a result tourism has a notable impact on Maryland s economy 64 One report suggested that Annapolis was an appealing spot for families water sports and boating 65 Commentator Terry Smith spoke about the Bay s beauty The water is glassy smooth and gorgeous his wake white against the deep blue That s the problem with the Chesapeake It s so damned beautiful 49 One account suggested how the Chesapeake attracts people You see them everywhere on Maryland s Eastern Shore the weekend sailors They are unmistakable with their deep tans their baggy shorts their frayed polo shirts their Top Siders worn without socks Some may not even own their own boats much less win regattas but they are inexorably drawn to the Chesapeake Bay I planned to spend my days boating eating as many Chesapeake Bay blue crabs as possible and making a little study of Eastern Shore locals For city folk like me they re interesting even exotic the weather beaten crabbers and oystermen called watermen gentlemen farmers and sharecroppers boat builders antiques dealers all of whom sound like Southerners with mouthfuls of marbles when they talk Susan Spano Los Angeles Times 2008 66 The Chesapeake Bay plays an important role in Maryland Virginia and Pennsylvania s economies in addition to the ecosystem The nature based recreation of wildlife boating and ecotourism are dependent on enforcement of the Clean Water Act CWA which regulates pollutant discharges and supports related pollution control programs In 2006 roughly eight million wildlife watchers spent 636 million 960 million and 1 4 billion in Maryland Virginia and Pennsylvania according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation 67 Cuisine EditIn colonial times simple cooking techniques were used to create one pot meals like ham and potato casserole clam chowder or stews with common ingredients like oysters chicken or venison When John Smith landed in Chesapeake in 1608 he wrote The fish were so thick we attempted to catch them with frying pans Common regional ingredients in the local cuisine of Chesapeake included terrapins smoked hams blue crab shellfish local fish game meats and various species of waterfowl Blue crab continues to be an especially popular regional specialty 68 Environmental issues EditPollution Edit Dead menhaden floating in the bay in 1973 Dissolved oxygen levels Milligrams per liter required by various marine animals living in the Chesapeake Bay In the 1970s the Chesapeake Bay was found to contain one of the planet s first identified marine dead zones where waters were so depleted of oxygen that they were unable to support life resulting in massive fish kills In 2010 the bay s dead zones were estimated to kill 75 000 tons of bottom dwelling clams and worms each year weakening the base of the estuary s food chain and robbing the blue crab in particular of a primary food source Crabs are sometimes observed to amass on shore to escape pockets of oxygen poor water a behavior known as a crab jubilee Hypoxia results in part from large algal blooms which are nourished by the runoff of residential farm and industrial waste throughout the watershed A 2010 report criticized Amish farmers in Pennsylvania for raising cows with inadequate controls on the manure that they generate Farms in Lancaster County Pennsylvania generate large quantities of manure that washes into tributaries of the bay 69 The pollution entering the bay has multiple components that contribute to algal blooms principally the nutrients phosphorus and nitrogen The algae prevents sunlight from reaching the bottom of the bay while alive and deoxygenates the bay s water when it dies and rots Soil erosion and runoff of sediment into the bay exacerbated by devegetation construction and the prevalence of pavement in urban and suburban areas also block vital sunlight The resulting loss of aquatic vegetation has depleted the habitat for much of the bay s animal life Beds of eelgrass the dominant variety in the southern Chesapeake Bay have shrunk by more than half there since the early 1970s Overharvesting pollution sedimentation and disease have turned much of the bay s bottom into a muddy wasteland 70 The principal sources of nutrient pollution in the bay are surface runoff from farms as well as runoff from urban and suburban areas About half of the nutrient pollutant loads in the bay are generated by manure and poultry litter 71 Extensive use of lawn fertilizers 72 73 and air pollution from motor vehicles and power plants are also significant nutrient sources 74 One particularly harmful source of toxicity is Pfiesteria piscicida which can affect both fish and humans Pfiesteria caused a small regional panic in the late 1990s when a series of large blooms started killing large numbers of fish while giving swimmers mysterious rashes nutrient runoff from chicken farms was blamed for the growth 75 Depletion of oysters Edit While the bay s salinity is ideal for oysters and the oyster fishery was at one time the bay s most commercially viable 76 the population has in the last fifty years been devastated Maryland once had roughly 200 000 acres 810 km2 of oyster reefs In 2008 there were about 36 000 acres 150 km2 76 It has been estimated that in pre colonial times oysters could filter the entirety of the bay in about 3 3 days by 1988 this time had increased to 325 days 77 The harvest s gross value decreased 88 from 1982 to 2007 78 One report suggested the bay had fewer oysters in 2008 than 25 years earlier 6 The primary problem is overharvesting Lax government regulations allow anyone with a license to remove oysters from state owned beds and although limits are set they are not strongly enforced 76 The overharvesting of oysters has made it difficult for them to reproduce which requires close proximity to one another A second cause for the oyster depletion is that the drastic increase in human population caused a sharp increase in pollution flowing into the bay 76 The bay s oyster industry has also suffered from two diseases MSX and Dermo 79 The depletion of oysters has had a particularly harmful effect on the quality of the bay Oysters serve as natural water filters and their decline has further reduced the water quality of the bay Water that was once clear for meters is now so turbid that a wader may lose sight of his feet while his knees are still dry citation needed Institutional responses to pollution problems Edit Concern about the increasing discoveries of bay pollution problems and of the institutional challenges of organizing bay restoration programs over a large geographical area led to Congress directing the US Environmental Protection Agency EPA to take a greater role in studying the scientific and technical aspects of the problems beginning in the late 1970s The agency conducted its research over a seven year period and published a major report in 1983 The report stated that the bay was an ecosystem in decline and cited numerous instances of declines in the populations of oysters crabs freshwater fish and other wildlife 80 81 The growing concerns about pollution also prompted the legislatures of Maryland and Virginia to establish the Chesapeake Bay Commission an advisory body in 1980 The commission consults with the state legislatures and executive agencies as well as Congress about environmental economic and social issues related to the bay 82 As an initial follow up to the EPA report the Chesapeake Bay Commission and EPA developed the Chesapeake Bay Agreement in 1983 The agreement was signed by the by the governors of Maryland Virginia and Pennsylvania the Mayor of the District of Columbia and the EPA Administrator The parties agreed to creation of an Executive Council consisting of cabinet level appointees from each state and Washington D C and the EPA Regional Administrator the council s creation of an implementation committee to coordinate technical issues and development management plans for bay restoration the establishment of the Chesapeake Bay Program as a liaison office for all of the participating organizations The program s office based in Annapolis is partially funded by EPA and staffed by experts from the member states EPA and other federal agencies and academic institutions 83 Concurrent with the 1983 agreement EPA began providing matching grants to the bay states for research and restoration projects 81 In 1987 the parties agreed to set a goal of reducing the amount of nutrients that enter the bay by 40 percent by 2000 In 1992 the bay program partners agreed to continue the 40 percent reduction goal beyond 2000 and to attack nutrients at their source upstream in the bay tributaries 84 Restoration efforts Edit A cluster of oysters grown in a sanctuary Efforts of federal state and local governments working in partnership through the Chesapeake Bay Program along with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other nonprofit environmental groups to restore or at least maintain the current water quality have had mixed results One particular obstacle to cleaning up the bay is that much of the polluting substances are discharged far upstream in lying within states far removed from the bay New York and Pennsylvania Despite the State of Maryland spending over 100 million to restore the bay conditions have continued to grow worse In the mid 20th century the Bay supported over 6 000 oystermen As of 2008 there were fewer than 500 85 needs update In June 2000 the Chesapeake Bay Program adopted Chesapeake 2000 an agreement adopted by the member jurisdictions intended to guide restoration activities throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed through 2010 86 One component of this agreement was a series of upgrades to sewage treatment plants throughout the watershed In 2016 EPA stated that the upgrades have resulted in steep reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus pollution despite increases in human population and wastewater volume 87 EPA published a series of scientific documents on water quality criteria for the bay between 2004 and 2010 The criteria documents which describe specific pollutants and their effects on aquatic species 88 are used by the states to develop water quality standards WQS for individual water bodies 89 Delaware Maryland Virginia and the District of Columbia adopted WQS for various Chesapeake Bay tributaries in the mid 2000s referencing the EPA criteria documents as well as their own extensive data gathering and modeling efforts 90 Restoration efforts that began in the 1990s have continued into the 21st century and show potential for growth of the native oyster population 7 8 Efforts to repopulate the bay using oyster hatcheries have been carried out by a group called the Oyster Recovery Partnership with some success In 2011 the group placed 6 million oysters on eight acres 32 000 m2 of the Trent Hall sanctuary 91 Scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at the College of William amp Mary claim that experimental reefs created in 2004 now house 180 million native oysters Crassostrea virginica which is far fewer than the billions that once existed 92 Regulatory actions Edit Sediment sources in the Chesapeake Bay In 2009 the Chesapeake Bay Foundation CBF filed suit against EPA for its failure to finalize a total maximum daily load TMDL ruling for the bay pursuant to the Clean Water Act The TMDL would restrict water pollution from farms land development power plants and sewage treatment plants 93 EPA which had been working with the states on various components of the TMDL since the 1980s e g water quality criteria standards for individual tributaries improvements in data gathering and modeling techniques 90 agreed to settle the lawsuit and issued its TMDL for nitrogen phosphorus and sediment pollution on December 29 2010 This was the largest most complex TMDL document that EPA had issued to date 94 The TMDL was challenged in litigation by the agriculture and construction industries but EPA s document was upheld by the courts 95 In 2020 the CBF filed another lawsuit against EPA for its failure to require the states of New York and Pennsylvania to comply with their TMDL goals and reduce pollution in the bay 96 EPA s 2010 TMDL document requires all states in the bay watershed region to develop detailed implementation plans for pollutant reduction 97 The states have been developing their plans for years in many cases building upon restoration projects that they had initiated before EPA s TMDL was finalized 98 These plans are long and complex involving regular consultation with many stakeholders i e governments industry agriculture citizen groups The plans include multiple milestone goals for project initiation or continued progress in water quality through the use of pollution control upgrades such as at sewage treatment plants and more widespread utilization of various best management practices BMPs The BMPs are designed for specific sites to control pollution from nonpoint sources principally agriculture land development and urban runoff For example a farmer may install vegetated stream buffers along a stream bank to reduce runoff of sediment nutrients and other pollutants 99 A land developer may install stormwater management facilities such as infiltration basins or constructed wetlands during the construction of housing or commercial buildings 100 In 2011 both Maryland and Virginia enacted laws to reduce the effects of lawn fertilizer use by restricting nitrogen and phosphorus content 101 The Virginia law also banned deicers containing urea nitrogen or phosphorus 102 Installation of stormwater management facilities is already a requirement for most new construction projects in the bay region under various state and local government requirements These facilities reduce erosion and keep sediment and other pollutants from entering tributaries and the bay 103 However retrofitting such facilities into existing developed areas is often expensive due to high land costs or difficult to install among existing structures As a result the extent of such retrofit projects in the bay region has been limited 104 Water quality improvements Edit In 2010 bay health improved slightly in terms of the overall health of its ecosystem earning a rating of 31 out of 100 up from a 28 rating in 2008 3 needs update An estimate in 2006 from a blue ribbon panel said cleanup costs would be 15 billion 49 Compounding the problem is that 100 000 new residents move to the area each year 49 A 2008 Washington Post report suggested that government administrators had overstated progress on cleanup efforts as a way to preserve the flow of federal and state money to the project 105 In January 2011 there were reports that millions of fish had died but officials suggested it was probably the result of extremely cold weather 106 The health of the Chesapeake Bay improved in 2015 marking three years of gains over a four year period according to a 2016 report by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science UMCES 9 In 2021 scientists at the UMCES reported slight improvements in bay water quality compared to levels measured in 2020 The greatest improvements were seen in the lower bay areas while the Patapsco River and Back River Maryland regions showed minimal improvement Positive indicators included decreased nitrogen levels and increases in dissolved oxygen 10 The CBF reported that as of 2022 pollution control efforts in the bay have continued to show mixed results with no improvement in levels of toxic contaminants nitrogen and dissolved oxygen and a small decrease in water clarity compared to 2020 levels measured as Secchi depth Oyster and rockfish populations in the bay have improved but blue crab populations have continued to decline 107 Climate change Edit The Chesapeake Bay is already experiencing the effects of climate change Key among these is sea level rise water levels in the bay have already risen one foot with a predicted increase of 1 3 to 5 2 feet in the next 100 years This has related environmental effects causing changes in marine ecosystems destruction of coastal marshes and wetlands and intrusion of saltwater into otherwise brackish parts of the bay Sea level rise also compounds the effects of extreme weather on the bay making coastal flooding as part of the events more extreme and increasing runoff from upstream in the watershed 11 108 With increases in flooding events and sea level rise the 11 600 miles of coastline which include significant historic buildings and modern infrastructure will be at risk of erosion Islands such as Holland Island have disappeared due to the rising sea levels 109 110 Beyond sea level rise other changes in the marine ecosystem due to climate change such as ocean acidification and temperature increases will put increasing pressure on marine life Projected effects include decreasing dissolved oxygen more acidic waters making it harder for shellfish to maintain shells and changing the seasonal cycles important for breeding and other lifecycle activities 11 Seasonal shifts and warmer temperatures also mean that there is a greater likelihood of pathogens to stay active in the ecosystem 108 Climate change may worsen hypoxia However compared to the current effects of nutrient pollution and algal blooms climate change s effect to increase hypoxia is relatively small Warmer waters can hold less dissolved oxygen Therefore as the Bay warms there may be a longer duration of hypoxia each summer season in the deep central channel of the Bay However comparing the effects of climate change and nutrient pollution reduced nutrient pollution would increase oxygen concentrations more dramatically than if climate change were to level out 111 Climate change adaptation and mitigation programs in Maryland and Virginia often include significant programs to address the communities in the Chesapeake Bay 112 Key infrastructure in Virginia such as the port of Norfolk 112 and major agriculture and fishing industries of the Eastern Shore of Maryland will be directly impacted by the changes in the Bay 113 Scientific research Edit Maryland Department of Natural Resources survey vessel tied up to a private dock with a continuous monitoring station Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System smart buoy on the Patapsco River Researchers work in the Chesapeake Bay to collect information about water quality plant and animal abundances shoreline erosion tides waves and harmful algal blooms For example the Virginia Institute of Marine Science monitors the abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation in the shallow areas of the Chesapeake Bay each summer 114 Many organizations run continuous monitoring programs Monitoring programs set out instruments at fixed stations on buoys moorings and docks throughout the Bay to record things like temperature salinity chlorophyll a concentration dissolved oxygen and turbidity over time 115 116 117 Organizations actively collecting data in the Chesapeake Bay include but are not limited to Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Maryland Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia Chesapeake Bay Program Hampton Roads Sanitation District Maryland Department of Natural Resources NASA GSFC Ocean Biology group NASA GSFC Applied Sciences group Water Resources and Human Health areas NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office Old Dominion University s Earth and Ocean Sciences Department Smithsonian Environmental Research Center United States Geological Survey University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Virginia Department of Environmental Quality 118 Virginia Department of Health Virginia Institute of Marine Science Virginia Marine Resources CommissionUnderwater archaeology EditUnderwater archaeology is a subfield of archaeology that focuses on the exploration of submerged archaeological sites in seas rivers and other bodies of water In 1988 the Maryland Maritime Archeology Program MMAP was established with the goal to manage and explore the various underwater archaeological sites that line the Chesapeake Bay This was in response to the National Abandoned Shipwreck Act passed in 1987 which gave ownership of historically significant shipwrecks to those states with proper management programs 119 Water makes up 25 of the State of Maryland and there are over 550 submerged archaeological sites that have been located across the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding watersheds Ranging from 12 000 year old precolonial native settlements to shipwrecks from as recent as World War II the MMAP researches thousands of years worth of history in these archaeological sites Susan Langley has been Maryland s State Underwater Archaeologist one of only nine state appointed underwater archaeologists in the United States since assuming the role in 1995 Before Langley was hired only 1 of the underwater archaeological sites in the bay area had been examined Over the next 10 years Langley made significant improvements to the MMAP s marine technology allowing her and her team to explore 34 of the underwater archaeological sites by 2004 citation needed Location and research processes Edit The Chesapeake Bay watershed has been heavily impacted by natural forces such as erosion tides and a history of hurricanes and other storms Along with environmental factors the bay has been negatively impacted by humans since being settled in the 17th century bringing with them problems like pollution construction and destruction of the environment All of these circumstances have made it increasingly difficult for the MMAP to identify potential underwater archaeological sites As sea levels rise and historically significant areas are sunk and covered in sediment the MMAP relies on various pieces of equipment to locate these man made anomalies but also ensure that the material being examined is kept intact Using marine magnetometers detects iron absent space side scan sonar detects objects on sea floor along with precise global positioning systems Langley and the MMAP have been much more successful in locating submerged archaeological sites After locating the site Langley and her team have a strict process in order to preserve the site and its contents allowing more accurate and thorough research to be conducted The remains of nearly every site have been submerged in saltwater for sometimes centuries the integrity of shipwrecks and other materials are fragile and careful precaution must be used when working with them Taking photos and videos creating maps and constructing models are all a part of the process of preserving remains Susan Langley notes herself If you have only ten percent of a ship s hull you can reconstruct the ship Construction techniques can tell us about the people who built the vessels artifacts can tell us about the people who profited from the ship s trade and eco facts evidence of insect infestation and organic remains such as seeds that are preserved in anaerobic muddy environments can tell us about the climate and season when a ship sank 120 Still the MMAP makes it a point to publish their data and information once a site is officially identified however the details of the location are left out to sway would be looters who have plagued marine archaeologists for decades Significant sites Edit Altogether there are more than 1 800 ship and boat wrecks that scatter the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding waterways 121 Dozens of precolonial era canoes and artifacts have been extracted from the bay helping to portray a better picture of the lives of Native Americans e g Powhatan Pamunkey Nansemond In 2014 underwater archaeologists identified the skull of a prehistoric mastodon which through carbon dating was found to be 22 000 years old Along with the skull a carved blade was also discovered in the same area Unable to accurately carbon date the stone tool archaeologists looked at similar styles of blade carving in order to gauge when it was made The technique was similar to the Solutrean tools that were crafted in Europe between 22 000 and 17 000 years ago and it was noted that the stone tool must be at least 14 000 years old The Solutrean hypothesis challenges the previous theory regarding the first inhabitants of North America whereas it is commonly accepted amongst anthropologists that the Clovis people were the first to settle the region somewhere around 13 000 years ago There is some controversy surrounding these findings many anthropologists have disputed this claiming that the environment and setting make properly identifying the origins of these artifacts nearly impossible 122 The Chesapeake Bay Flotilla which was constructed using shallow barges and ships to provide a blockade to the British during the War of 1812 After holding strong for some months the British eventually dispersed the flotilla and dozens of these vessels were burnt and sunk Starting in 1978 there were numerous expeditions launched in hopes of successfully discovering what was left of the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla Since then hundreds of artifacts and remains have been extracted from the submerged ships such as weapons personal items and many other objects Underwater archaeologists have also been successful in constructing accurate models and maps of the wreckage amongst the sea floor 123 In October 1774 a British merchant ship arrived at the port of Annapolis loaded with tea disguised as linens and garments The tea was hidden by the British to avoid conflict with the colonists as the recently imposed tea tax had created hostility and uncertainty among the colonies Named Peggy Stewart the British vessel arrived and attempted to tax the colonists for the purchased tea The colonists refused to pay the tax and after a few days of public meetings the colonists decided to burn Peggy Stewart and the contents of it The British ship was sunk in what became known as the Annapolis Tea Party and has since become an important site for underwater archaeologists in the Chesapeake Bay 124 In 1949 after the Nazi s defeat in World War 2 the United States seized a German U 1105 built with sonar evading rubber sheathing for study purposes It was sunk the same year in the Potomac River off of the Chesapeake Bay following a high explosives test hosted by the U S Navy and has since been a popular site for underwater archaeologists 125 Maryland has controlled the majority of underwater archaeology research around the Chesapeake Bay however Virginia s Department of Historic Resources has had a State Underwater Archaeologist since the 1970s In 1982 the Virginia Department of Historic Resources along with the first State Underwater Archaeologist John Broadwater led an expedition to explore and research a sunken fleet of Revolution era battleships In September 1781 during the Revolutionary War the British intentionally sunk more than a dozen ships in the York River near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay Led by Lord Charles Cornwallis a fleet of British ships was pushed back towards the rivers of the Chesapeake in a desperate attempt to avoid surrendering Cornwallis began burning and sinking his own vessels with the hopes of stalling the incoming French and American ships Cornwallis was eventually forced to surrender on October 19 and the ships along with its contents were at the bottom of the York River One of the British ships called Betsy has been explored more than any other and over 5 000 relics were removed from Betsy on their original expedition in 1982 including weapons personal objects and some valuable metals Broadwater and his team were awarded a 20 page article in the magazine National Geographic for their findings Virginia has recently been granted funding for further research of these sunken vessels and expeditions are currently underway with the goal to fully explore this destroyed fleet of British ships Unfortunately following the publicity of these sunken ships many divers have taken it upon themselves to explore the wreckage for treasure 126 Publications EditThere are several magazines and publications that cover topics directly related to the Chesapeake Bay and life and tourism within the Bay region The Bay Journal provides environmental news for the Chesapeake Bay watershed region 127 Bay Weekly is the Chesapeake Bay region s independent newspaper 128 The Capital a newspaper based in Annapolis reports about news pertaining to the Western Shore of Maryland and the Annapolis area 129 Chesapeake Bay Magazine and PropTalk focus on powerboating in the Bay 130 131 and SpinSheet focuses on sailing 132 What s Up Magazine is a free monthly publication with special issues focused on Annapolis and the Eastern Shore 133 Cultural depictions EditIn literature Edit Beautiful Swimmers Watermen Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay 1976 a Pulitzer Prize winning non fiction book by William W Warner about the Chesapeake Bay blue crabs and watermen Chesapeake 1978 a novel by author James A Michener Chesapeake Requiem A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island 2018 by Earl Swift a New York Times bestselling nonfiction book about the crabbing community of Chesapeake Bay 134 Dicey s Song 1983 and the rest of Cynthia Voigt s Tillerman series are set in Crisfield on the Chesapeake Bay John Barth wrote two novels featuring Chesapeake Bay Jacob Have I Loved 1980 by Katherine Paterson winner of the 1981 Newbery Medal This is a novel about the relationship between two sisters in a waterman family who grow up on an island in the Bay Patriot Games 1987 in which protagonist Jack Ryan lives on the fictional Peregrine Cliffs overlooking the Chesapeake Bay and Without Remorse 1993 in which protagonist John Kelly later known as John Clark when he goes to work for the CIA lives on a boat and an island in the Bay both by Tom Clancy Red Kayak 2004 by Priscilla Cummings portrays class conflict between waterman people and wealthy newcomers Sabbatical A Romance 1982 centered on a yacht race through the Bay and The Tidewater Tales 1987 detailed a married couple telling stories to each other as they cruise the Bay both novels by John Barth The Oyster Wars of Chesapeake Bay 1997 by John Wennersten on the Oyster Wars in the decades following the Civil War 135 In film Edit The Bay a 2012 found footage style eco horror movie about a pandemic due to deadly pollution from chicken factory farm run off and mutant isopods and aquatic parasites able to infect humans Expedition Chesapeake A Journey of Discovery a 2019 film starring Jeff Corwin created by The Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts 136 137 138 In TV Edit In Chesapeake Shores the O Brien family lives in a small town in the Bay not far from Baltimore In MeatEater by Steven Rinella Season 8 Episode 3 4 Ghosts of the Chesapeake features the Chesapeake Bay eastern shore 139 Other media Edit Singer and songwriter Tom Wisner recorded several albums often about the Chesapeake Bay The Boston Globe wrote that Wisner always tried to capture the voice of the water and the sky of the rocks and the trees of the fish and the birds of the gods of nature he believed still watched over it all 140 He was known as the Bard of the Chesapeake Bay 140 The Chesapeake Bay is referenced in the hit musical Hamilton in the song Yorktown The World Turned Upside Down It describes the famous Battle of Yorktown the last battle in the Revolutionary War When describing the US army s plan for attack Hamilton sings When we finally drive the British away Lafayette is there waiting in Chesapeake Bay See also Edit Geography portal Water portalChesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System Chesapeake Bay Retriever Chesapeake Climate Action Network Chesepian Chessie sea monster Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation Great Ireland List of islands in Maryland with the islands in the Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Old Bay SeasoningNotes Edit Residence time ranges from 110 to 264 days with an average of 180 days based on circulation in the years 1980 to 2012 1 References Edit Du Jiabi Shen Jian 2016 Water residence time in Chesapeake Bay for 1980 2012 Journal of Marine Systems Elsevier BV 164 101 111 Bibcode 2016JMS 164 101D doi 10 1016 j jmarsys 2016 08 011 ISSN 0924 7963 Chesapeake Bay Estuarine Complex Ramsar Sites Information Service Retrieved 25 April 2018 a b c Kaufman Leslie December 28 2010 More Blue Crabs but Chesapeake Bay Is Still at Risk Report Says The New York Times Archived from the original on April 12 2011 Retrieved 2011 04 20 a b Fact Sheet 102 98 The Chesapeake Bay Geologic Product of Rising Sea Level U S Geological Survey 1998 11 18 Retrieved 2008 01 13 Chesapeake Bay VA MD M130 Bathymetric Digital ElevationModel 30 meter resolution Derived From Source Hydrographic Survey Soundings Collected by NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2013 05 17 Archived from the original on 2015 04 11 Retrieved 2015 01 21 a b Fahrenthold David A 2008 12 28 Way of Life Slipping Away Along Chesapeake s Edge The Washington Post Retrieved 2011 04 20 a b Signs of a Chesapeake Bay oyster comeback The Washington Post 19 November 2013 a b Kuebler Brian 2015 02 01 Maryland oysters making a comeback ABC News Archived from the original on 2 April 2015 a b Cox Jeremy 2016 05 18 Report Chesapeake Bay at healthiest level in years Delmarva Now Gannett a b Lai Stephanie 2021 06 22 The Chesapeake Bay s water quality is inching in the right direction scientists say The Washington Post a b c Climate Change Annapolis MD Chesapeake Bay Program Retrieved 2020 12 16 Also shown as Chisupioc by John Smith and Chisapeack in Algonquian che means big or great sepi means river and the oc or ok ending indicated something a village in this case at that feature Sepi is also found in another placename of Algonquian origin Mississippi The name was soon transferred by the English from the big river and the village at that site to the entire bay Stewart George 1945 Names on the Land A Historical Account of Place Naming in the United States New York Random House p 23 Farenthold David A 2006 12 12 A Dead Indian Language Is Brought Back to Life The Washington Post p A1 Retrieved 2007 03 19 FAQ Scientists Cliffs community Archived from the original on January 7 2009 Retrieved 2008 05 08 Geography Chesapeake Bay Foundation Archived from the original on October 14 2007 Retrieved 2008 04 21 Other sources give values of 25 feet e g Charting the Chesapeake 1590 1990 Maryland State Archives Retrieved 2008 04 21 or 30 feet 9 1 m deep Healthy Chesapeake Waterways PDF University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Archived from the original PDF on 2008 06 26 Retrieved 2008 04 21 Chesapeake Bay Program A Watershed Partnership Facts amp Figures Chesapeake Bay Program Office 2010 05 04 Archived from the original on 2010 12 04 Retrieved 2010 10 29 Figure 1 Map of the Chesapeake Bay and salinity zones Salinity zones ResearchGate The Big Freeze Time 1977 01 31 Archived from the original on March 8 2008 Retrieved 2007 03 19 Facts amp Figures Chesapeake Bay Program Retrieved 18 August 2021 Zhang Qian Brady Damien C Boynton Walter R Ball William P 2015 Long term trends of nutrients and sediment from the nontidal Chesapeake watershed An assessment of progress by river and season Journal of the American Water Resources Association 51 6 1534 1555 Bibcode 2015JAWRA 51 1534Z doi 10 1111 1752 1688 12327 S2CID 129432081 Sprague Lori A Langland Michael J Yochum Steven E Edwards Robert E Blomquist Joel D Phillips Scott W Shenk Gary W Preston Stephen D 2000 Factors Affecting Nutrient Trends in Major Rivers of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Water Resources Investigations Report 00 4218 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help A Comprehensive List of Chesapeake Bay Basin Species Chesapeake Bay Program 2007 Retrieved 11 October 2015 a b Elton Dunn Demand Media 2011 04 20 Chesapeake Bay Kayak Tours USA Today Retrieved 2011 04 20 a b Blankenship Karl September 1995 Endangered Species Around the Chesapeake Chesapeake Bay Journal 5 6 Archived from the original on 2011 06 23 Retrieved 2011 04 02 Atlantic Sturgeon Chesapeake Bay Program Archived from the original on November 8 2014 Retrieved December 21 2014 The Chesapeake Bay News 2010 Are there sharks in the Chesapeake Bay Retrieved on December 21 2014 Shinkman D P Sharks in the Chesapeake More likely than thoughtArchived 2014 12 20 at the Wayback Machine The WTOP FM Retrieved on December 21 2014 a b c Lippson J A Lippson L R 2006 Life in the Chesapeake Bay Johns Hopkins University Press pp 275 281 ISBN 9780801883385 retrieved 2014 12 21 dead link a b The National Aquarium Sharks Among Us Chesapeake Bay Species Archived 2014 10 24 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on December 22 2014 Bottlenose Dolphin Chesapeake Bay Program Archived from the original on December 21 2014 Retrieved December 21 2014 O BRIEN D 1992 Whale in Chesapeake Provides Reminders About Nature Archived 2014 12 20 at the Wayback Machine The Baltimore Sun Retrieved on December 21 2014 The Southside Sentinel 2010 Whale sighted in the Chesapeake Bay Archived 2014 12 20 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on December 21 2014 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2010 NOAA Ship Speed Restrictions to Protect Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales Retrieved on December 22 2014 Four rare Chesapeake Bay oddities to learn about this leap year Chesapeake Bay Program February 27 2012 Retrieved December 21 2014 Kilar Steve Wheeler Timothy B July 15 2011 Chessie the manatee is back in the Bay The Baltimore Sun Archived from the original on September 23 2016 Retrieved January 29 2017 Beck Cathy Pawlitz Rachel Bloomer Jen September 2011 Famous Manatee Chessie Sighted in Chesapeake Bay After Long Absence Sound Waves U S Geological Survey Archived from the original on November 4 2017 Retrieved January 29 2017 Hamilton Hannah Puckett Catherine September 2006 Manatee Traveler in Northeastern Waters Not Chessie Sound Waves U S Geological Survey Archived from the original on February 2 2017 Retrieved January 29 2017 Hedgpeth Dana July 16 2015 Manatee spotted in tributary off Chesapeake Bay near Waldorf Md The Washington Post Retrieved January 29 2017 Chesapeake Bay Program to release new data on underwater grasses in bay rivers The Washington Post Associated Press April 20 2011 Retrieved 2011 04 20 dead link Domes S Lewis M Moran R Nyman D Chesapeake Bay Wetlands Emporia State University May 2009 Retrieved 2010 03 14 History amp Culture Chesapeake Bay National Park Service Retrieved 2021 03 07 Tayac Gabrielle 2006 We Have A Story To Tell Native Peoples of the Chesapeake Region A Guide for Teachers National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian Institution Retrieved March 6 2021 orientation of map depicts west at top Woodard Buck 2006 11 22 A Study of Virginia Indians and Jamestown The First Century Colonial National Historical Park National Park Service p Appendix A Retrieved 9 April 2016 a b Parramore Thomas 2000 Norfolk The First Four Centuries pp 1 16 ISBN 9780813919881 Retrieved 2011 11 05 Grymes Charles A Spanish in the Chesapeake Retrieved 2010 07 08 Weber David 1994 The Spanish Frontier in North America New Haven CT Yale University Press pp 36 37 Smith s Maps Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historical Trail National Park Service Retrieved 12 June 2012 a b c d Terry Smith commentator Michele Norris host April 13 2006 The Chesapeake Bay Scenic and Unhealthy NPR Retrieved 2011 04 20 H R 5466 109th Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail Designation Act GovTrack us Retrieved December 16 2007 Morris Kendra Bailey November 21 2007 Consider the Chesapeake Bay Oyster NPR Retrieved April 20 2011 CBBT Facts Archived from the original on 2015 04 28 Retrieved 2015 05 21 Wollf J D April 20 2011 Fishing at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel USA Today Retrieved April 20 2011 Wang D P 1979 Subtidal Sea Level Variations in the Chesapeake Bay and Relations to Atmospheric Forcing Journal of Physical Oceanography Vol 9 pp 413 421 Wang D P and A J Elliott Non Tidal Variability in the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River Evidence for Non Local Forcing Journal of Physical Oceanography Vol 8 pp 225 232 a b Grimes William April 30 2008 William W Warner Chesapeake Bay Author Dies at 88 The New York Times Retrieved April 20 2011 Chesapeake Bay Workboats Chesapeake Bay Gateway Network Archived from the original on 2007 04 07 Retrieved 2007 03 19 Hall S J Delaporte A Phillips M J Beveridge M O Keefe M 2011 Blue Frontiers Managing the Environmental Costs of Aquaculture PDF The WorldFish Center Penang Malaysia Oyster Restoration Projected to Provide Significant Boost to Bay Grasses While Removing Nitrogen Pollution from the Bay Maryland Department of Natural Resources Archived from the original on 2006 09 03 Shad Chesapeake Bay Magazine 5 April 2018 Retrieved 21 October 2021 Nepal Vaskar Fabrizio Mary C 5 November 2019 Patterson Heather M ed High salinity tolerance of invasive blue catfish suggests potential for further range expansion in the Chesapeake Bay region PLOS One Public Library of Science PLoS 14 11 e0224770 Bibcode 2019PLoSO 1424770N doi 10 1371 journal pone 0224770 ISSN 1932 6203 PMC 6830772 PMID 31689331 Atlantic Menhaden Chesapeake Bay Program Retrieved 21 October 2021 Maryland Sea Grant Maryland Sea Grant Retrieved 2018 09 12 Harvey M Katz 2009 08 27 Chesapeake Bay Executive Order Targeting Resources to Better Protect the Chesapeake Bay is Aim of U S Department of Agriculture s 202 b Report Executiveorder chesapeakebay net Archived from the original on 2014 03 05 Retrieved 2014 02 28 Glusker Anne October 9 2005 A Treasure Chest of Fun on Chesapeake Bay The New York Times Retrieved 2011 04 20 Spano Susan June 23 2002 Peak Season on Chesapeake Bay Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2011 04 20 Grisham Carrie The Economic Importance of the Bay Chesapeake Bay Foundation Retrieved 1 November 2020 Shields John Chesapeake Bay Cooking Johns Hopkins University Press Bhanoo Sindya N 2010 06 08 Amish Farming Draws Rare Government Scrutiny The New York Times Bad Water and the Decline of Blue Crabs in the Chesapeake Bay Chesapeake Bay Foundation December 2008 Archived from the original on 2010 06 17 Retrieved 2009 01 21 Agricultural Runoff Threats to the Bay Chesapeake Bay Program Retrieved 2022 12 24 Pimental Alicia 2011 03 29 Report details effects of pollution from lawn fertilizer on Chesapeake Bay Chesapeake Bay Program Fears Darryl 2011 03 28 Lawns are adding to Chesapeake Bay pollution study says The Washington Post Air Pollution Threats to the Bay Chesapeake Bay Program Retrieved 2022 12 24 Fahrenthold David A 2008 09 12 Md Gets Tough on Chicken Farmers The Washington Post a b c d Oysters Gem of the Ocean The Economist December 8 2008 Oyster Reefs Ecological importance US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Archived from the original on October 3 2008 Retrieved 2007 11 06 Estimating Net Present Value in the Northern Chesapeake Bay Oyster Fishery PDF NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office 2008 11 07 Archived from the original PDF on June 29 2009 Retrieved 2009 09 08 Research Shellfish Diseases Gloucester Point VA Virginia Institute of Marine Science 2007 03 16 Archived from the original on February 11 2007 Retrieved 2008 02 22 Chesapeake Bay Program Findings and Recommendations Report Philadelphia PA U S Environmental Protection Agency EPA September 1983 EPA 903 R 83 008 a b Franklin Ben A 1983 09 27 Chesapeake Bay Study Citing Pollution Threats The New York Times p A24 History About Us Annapolis MD Chesapeake Bay Commission Retrieved 2022 01 15 1983 Chesapeake Bay Agreement PDF Annapolis MD Chesapeake Bay Program CBP 1983 1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreement PDF CBP 1987 Urbina Ian 2008 11 29 In Maryland Focus on Poultry Industry Pollution The New York Times p A14 CBP 2000 Chesapeake 2000 Chesapeake Bay Progress Wastewater Pollution Reduction Leads the Way PDF Philadelphia PA U S Environmental Protection Agency EPA June 2016 Water Quality Criteria EPA 2021 11 17 What are Water Quality Standards EPA 2021 02 26 a b Section 3 Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Standards Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load for Nitrogen Phosphorus and Sediment Report EPA 2010 12 29 Program turns pork into oysters Archived 2011 04 12 at the Wayback Machine Jesse Yeatman South Maryland Newspapers Online August 12 2009 Fountain Henry August 3 2009 Oysters Are on the Rebound in the Chesapeake Bay The New York Times Fahrenthold David A 2009 01 06 Bay Advocates Sue EPA The Washington Post Chesapeake Bay TMDL Executive Summary PDF Report EPA 2010 12 29 Fears Darryl 2016 03 01 Supreme Court ends challenge to the Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan The Washington Post Finley Ben 2020 09 10 Lawsuit EPA fails to enforce Chesapeake Bay pollution caps The Washington Post Associated Press Chesapeake Bay Milestones Chesapeake Bay TMDL EPA 2021 12 15 For example see Maryland s Two Year Milestones documents issued biennially outlining the state s projects and goals for pollution reduction The state intends to initiate all necessary pollution reduction actions by 2025 Maryland s Two Year Milestones Baltimore MD Maryland Department of the Environment MDE Retrieved 2021 12 24 Riparian Forest Buffer Conservation Practice Job Sheet PDF Washington D C U S Natural Resources Conservation Service 1997 National Research Council Committee on Reducing Stormwater Discharge Contributions to Water Pollution 2009 5 Stormwater Management Approaches Urban Stormwater Management in the United States Washington D C National Academies Press ISBN 978 0 309 12540 6 Pimental Alicia 2011 05 23 Maryland passes law to reduce pollution from lawn fertilizer Chesapeake Bay Program Pimental Alicia 2011 08 18 Va governor signs bill banning phosphorus lawn fertilizer Chesapeake Bay Program For example see the Maryland Stormwater Design Manual Volumes I and II Report MDE May 2009 Constructing Stormwater Retrofits in Maryland Challenges amp Recommendations for Cost Estimation Report Ellicott City MD Center for Watershed Protection January 2019 Fahrenthold David A 2008 12 27 Failing the Chesapeake Bay Broken Promises on the Bay The Washington Post Two Million Dead Fish Appear in Chesapeake Bay CBS News 2011 01 05 Archived from the original on 2011 04 25 Retrieved 2011 04 20 State of the Bay 2022 PDF Report Chesapeake Bay Foundation 2022 a b Climate change already affecting Chesapeake Bay region Cambridge MD University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science 2017 04 04 Retrieved 2020 12 16 Climate Change and the Chesapeake Bay Arlington VA The Conservation Fund Retrieved 2020 12 16 Portrait of an Island Part I What used to be home Chesapeake Bay Program Retrieved 2022 12 25 Irby Isaac D Friedrichs Marjorie A M Da Fei Hinson Kyle E 4 May 2018 The competing impacts of climate change and nutrient reductions on dissolved oxygen in Chesapeake Bay Biogeosciences Copernicus GmbH 15 9 2649 2668 Bibcode 2018BGeo 15 2649I doi 10 5194 bg 15 2649 2018 ISSN 1726 4189 a b After decades of waterfront living climate change is forcing communities to plan their retreat from the coasts The Washington Post What Climate Change Means for Maryland PDF EPA August 2016 Orth Robert J Dennison William C Lefcheck Jonathan S Gurbisz Cassie Hannam Michael Keisman Jennifer Landry J Brooke Moore Kenneth A Murphy Rebecca R Patrick Christopher J Testa Jeremy Weller Donald E Wilcox David J 14 June 2017 Submersed Aquatic Vegetation in Chesapeake Bay Sentinel Species in a Changing World BioScience Oxford University Press OUP 67 8 698 712 doi 10 1093 biosci bix058 ISSN 0006 3568 Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System Home 23 December 2021 Retrieved 3 March 2022 Water Quality Monitoring Virginia Institute of Marine Science Retrieved 3 March 2022 Eyes on the Bay Your home for Maryland tidal water quality data downloads and visualizations Eyes on the Bay 22 February 2022 Retrieved 3 March 2022 Home Virginia DEQ 20 September 2011 Retrieved 3 March 2022 Maryland Maritime Archaeology Program Crownsville MD Maryland Historical Trust Retrieved 2020 11 16 Lewis Nancy Breslau 2006 Underwater Archaeology History From the Deep Inside Annapolis Backyard Publications LLC Retrieved 2020 11 16 Shipwrecks Chesapeake Bay Program Retrieved 2020 11 16 Ghose Tia 2014 08 11 Fisherman Pulls Up Beastly Evidence of Early Americans Live Science New York Future US Inc Chesapeake Flotilla public1 nhhcaws local Retrieved 2020 11 16 dead link Digging into Underwater Archaeology Washington D C Archaeology in the Community 2016 07 27 Archived from the original on 2016 11 13 Retrieved 2020 11 16 State Submerged Resources Maryland Archeology Program Washington D C National Park Service Retrieved 2020 11 16 Kimberlin Joanne 2019 05 18 Revolutionary War shipwrecks near Yorktown getting their first good look in years The Virginian Pilot Norfolk VA Bay Journal Independent environmental news for the Chesapeake region Bay Journal Retrieved 23 February 2022 Bay Weekly Bay Weekly Top Stories The Capital Newspaper Capital Gazette Communications Archived from the original on February 8 2009 Retrieved April 22 2011 Chesapeake Bay Magazine Retrieved April 22 2011 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help PropTalk PropTalk Media LLC Archived from the original on May 1 2011 Retrieved April 22 2011 SpinSheet SpinSheet Publishing Co Retrieved April 22 2011 Annapolis Magazine Eastern Shore Magazine West County Magazine What s Up Media 21 February 2022 Retrieved 23 February 2022 Mayer Petra 27 August 2018 Chesapeake Requiem Chronicles Life On An Endangered Island NPR Retrieved 2021 07 03 Wennersten J 2007 The Oyster Wars of Chesapeake Bay Eastern Branch Press ISBN 978 0 615 18250 6 Retrieved 23 February 2022 Expedition Chesapeake Expedition Chesapeake Retrieved 23 February 2022 Center Whitaker Arts the 21 July 2021 Expedition Chesapeake Whitaker Center Retrieved 23 February 2022 Expedition Chesapeake Official Trailer YouTube 23 February 2022 Retrieved 23 February 2022 Callaghan Ryan 31 October 2019 Season 8 Episode 3 Gear Ghosts of the Chesapeake MeatEater Hunting Retrieved 23 February 2022 a b Johnson Jenna April 9 2010 Tom Wisner Chesapeake Bay served as bard s muse at 79 The Boston Globe The Boston Globe Media Partners LLC Retrieved 20 April 2011 Further reading EditCleaves E T et al 2006 Quaternary geologic map of the Chesapeake Bay 4º x 6º quadrangle United States Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I 1420 NJ 18 Reston VA U S Department of the Interior U S Geological Survey Crawford S 2012 Terrapin Bay Fishing Chesapeake Bay Tides and Currents Meyers Debra and Perrealt Melanie eds 2014 Order and Civility in the Early Modern Chesapeake Lanham MD Rowman and Littlefield Phillips S W ed 2007 Synthesis of U S Geological Survey science for the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and implications for environmental management U S Geological Survey Circular 1316 Reston VA U S Department of the Interior U S Geological Survey Thomas William G III The Chesapeake Bay Southern Spaces April 16 2004 William W Warner Beautiful Swimmers about the history ecology and anthropology of the Chesapeake Bay published 1976External links Edit Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Chesapeake Bay Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chesapeake Bay Chesapeake Bay History amp Culture U S National Park Service Chesapeake Bay Program University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Research and science application activities emphasizing Chesapeake Bay and its watershed Maryland Department of Natural Resources Eyes on the Bay Real time and historical Chesapeake Bay water quality and satellite data Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chesapeake Bay amp oldid 1136430237, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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