25 Facts About Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula with its mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at the south end located between Cape Henry and Cape Charles.

Chesapeake Bay is approximately 200 miles long from its northern headwaters in the Susquehanna River to its outlet in the Atlantic Ocean.

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.

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.

Chesapeake Bay is an estuary, it has fresh water, salt water and brackish water.

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Climate of the area surrounding the Chesapeake Bay is primarily humid subtropical, with hot, very humid summers and cold to mild winters.

Chesapeake Bay is home to numerous fauna that either migrate to the Bay at some point during the year or live there year-round.

The waters of the Chesapeake Bay have been regarded as one of the most important nursery areas for sharks along the east coast.

Chesapeake Bay was the site of the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781, during which the French fleet defeated the Royal Navy in the decisive naval battle of the American Revolutionary War.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel was opened for two lanes in 1964 and four lanes in 1999.

At the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel 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 vs neap tidal periods.

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

Chesapeake Bay is well-known for its seafood, especially blue crabs, clams, and oysters.

Oyster aquaculture is passive in that the Chesapeake Bay provides all the natural oyster food needed, making it an environmentally-friendly practice in contrast to other kinds of fish farming.

The Chesapeake Bay Program promotes oyster restoration projects to reduce the amount of nitrogen compounds entering the Chesapeake Bay.

Chesapeake Bay is famous for its rockfish, a regional name for striped bass.

Chesapeake Bay is a main feature for tourists who visit Maryland and Virginia each year.

Chesapeake Bay plays an important role in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania's economies, in addition to the ecosystem.

Common regional ingredients in the local cuisine of Chesapeake Bay included terrapins, smoked hams, blue crab, shellfish, local fish, game meats and various species of waterfowl.

Beds of eelgrass, the dominant variety in the southern Chesapeake Bay, have shrunk by more than half there since the early 1970s.

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.

In 2009 the Chesapeake Bay Foundation filed suit against EPA for its failure to finalize a total maximum daily load ruling for the bay, pursuant to the Clean Water Act.

Chesapeake Bay is already experiencing the effects of climate change.

Researchers work in the Chesapeake Bay to collect information about water quality, plant and animal abundances, shoreline erosion, tides, waves, and harmful algal blooms.

Chesapeake Bay watershed has been heavily impacted by natural forces such as erosion, tides, and a history of hurricanes and other storms.

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