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Sep 18, 2020 · The Bay is also an important economic resource. Seafood, recreation and tourism generate significant revenue for all Chesapeake watershed states, producing jobs and boosting local economies. The Chesapeake is also home to two of the five major shipping ports in the North Atlantic: Baltimore and Hampton Roads.
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 parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and the state of Delaware.
Sep 25, 2024 · News •. Chesapeake Bay, largest inlet in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the eastern United States. Created by the submergence of the lower courses of the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, it is 193 miles (311 km) long and 3 to 25 miles (5 to 40 km) wide. The southern part of the bay is bordered by Virginia and its northern part by Maryland.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Bay Facts. The largest and at one-time most productive estuary in the United States, and the third largest in the world, the Chesapeake Bay is an integral part of our natural and national history. Home to more than 18 million people and 3,600 species of plants and animals, the Chesapeake Bay watershed is truly an extraordinary place.
- What Is The Chesapeake Bay?
- Land-Water Interactions
- A Home For Plants and Animals
- Why Is The Chesapeake Bay Important?
Estuary Basics
The Chesapeake Bay is an estuary (leaving MDE) and is the largest ecosystem of its kind in the United States. Estuaries are partially enclosed coastal bodies of water that occur where freshwater from streams and rivers mixes with saltwater from the ocean. This combination of freshwater and saltwater is called brackish water(leaving MDE) and is responsible for the slightly salty smell of the Bay.
A Transition Between the Land and Sea
Estuaries are transitional ecosystems between the land and the sea(leaving MDE). They are composed of wetlands, tidal marshes, mudflats, underwater grass beds, and areas of open water. This varied and dynamic range of habitats provides a home to hundreds of animal and plant species. Additionally, the diverse habitat in the Chesapeake provides vital breeding grounds for many fish and crustacean species; the sheltered tidal marshes provide a safe place for the young to grow while open waters pr...
The Source of Freshwater in the Chesapeake
Freshwater flows into the Chesapeake Bay from the surrounding land in a drainage area known as a watershed. Water that falls in the watershed flows into rivers and streams (leaving MDE), or percolates into the groundwater(leaving MDE), where it makes its way into the Chesapeake Bay and ultimately, the Atlantic Ocean. The Chesapeake Bay has a vast watershed(leaving MDE) that spans 64,000 square miles and encompasses parts of six states; Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia...
Nutrients Power Productivity
Estuaries are among the most fertile and productive ecosystems in the world. They host a vast amount of biological activity that produces more biomass than similarly sized forest or agricultural land. Nutrient-rich water from the surface drains into the estuary basin and drives biological productivity. Plants and aquatic organisms filter and consume nutrients as they enter the water. This flow of nutrients into the Chesapeake is a delicate balancing act, one that humans have disrupted.
Oxygen in the Water is Essential to Life
Like their air-breathing counterparts, most aquatic life requires oxygen to survive(leaving MDE). Unlike air, water carries relatively little oxygen. To compensate, animals that live and breathe underwater are specially adapted to take as much oxygen as possible from the water. While oxygen levels normally vary in the Bay, human activity has disrupted natural processes that have caused oxygen levels in parts of the Bay to dip dangerously low.
The Foundations of the Food Chain
Nutrients in the water are essential for life in the Chesapeake. Plants, algae, and plankton feed on nutrients and flourish as a result of the rich waters that flow into the Bay. Organisms that produce their own food using sunlight and nutrient inputs are known as primary producers and form the foundation of the food chain(leaving MDE). Larger organisms, such as fish, crabs, and mollusks, feed on the primary producers, and in turn, are preyed upon by larger fish, birds, and mammals. Different...
Plants Provide Clean Water and Protection
Aquatic plants are of great importance to the Bay (leaving MDE). While few plants can survive the diverse range of habitat found in an estuary(leaving MDE), plants that live in the Bay are specially adapted to survive variable conditions. In particular, Bay plants thrive under variable salt content ranging from the freshwater in the headwaters of the Bay, to the salty waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Bay plants help filter the water and provide vital breeding grounds and nurseries(leaving MDE) f...
Wildlife in the Chesapeake
Even in a degraded state, the Chesapeake is home to many types of wildlife(leaving MDE) and is among the most important ecosystems in the world. The Chesapeake Bay supports hundreds of species of fish, shellfish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. These animals either live permanently in the Chesapeake, or use it as a temporary resource while migrating through the region. Wildlife in the Chesapeake makes use of the various habitats (leaving MDE) to reproduce, raise young, and to live a...
Maryland's National Treasure
The Chesapeake Bay is intrinsic to life in Maryland. It is part of our state identity, local culture (leaving MDE), and a vibrant part of Maryland's history and State pride(leaving MDE). The Chesapeake is a natural wonder that thousands of people travel great distances to experience for only a short time. It provides its inhabitants with a wealth of resources, natural beauty, economic well-being, and national identity. Chesapeake Bay is our National Treasure; a treasure worth investing in, pr...
Ecosystem Services
Many of the animals in the Bay perform ecosystem services (leaving MDE). In other words, these organisms perform a service that benefits the environment, including filtering water or preventing shoreline erosion. One of the most prominent examples in the Chesapeake of an organism performing an ecosystem service is the native eastern oyster(Crassostrea virginica) (leaving MDE). These small mollusks are capable of filtering large volumes of water and were once one of the primary filters of the...
Fisheries
The Chesapeake Bay is one of the most productive fisheries in the United States and is estimated to be responsible for more than one-third of the Nation's annual blue crab harvest (leaving MDE). In 2014, watermen in Maryland harvested approximately 49 million pounds of seafood from the Chesapeake, valued at nearly 90 million dollars dockside(leaving MDE). In addition to blue crabs, the Bay provides rockfish (leaving MDE), shad (leaving MDE), oysters (leaving MDE), clams(leaving MDE), and othe...
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, a place where the deep, cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean meet the warmer, shallower waters fed in by a series of storied rivers: the Susquehanna, the Potomac, the Rappahannock, the James. That range of marine ecosystems in turn brings unusual wealth to the bay in the form of ...
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Bay History. The Chesapeake Bay has its beginnings in the ancient Susquehanna River valley. More than 18,000 years ago, geologists believe, the Susquehanna flowed directly into the Atlantic Ocean, with the valley surrounding it meandering through the continental shelves. As glaciers began to shrink, sea level began to rise, and the waters of ...
