| Delaware Bay | |
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 Delaware Bay in Winter | |
 Map of Delaware Bay | |
  Delaware Bay | |
| Coordinates | 39°04′N75°10′W / 39.067°N 75.167°W /39.067; -75.167[1] |
| Type | Bay |
| Primary inflows | Delaware River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 782 square miles (2,030 km2)[2] |
| Surface elevation | 0 feet (0 m)[1] |
| Official name | Delaware Bay Estuary |
| Designated | 20 May 1992 |
| Reference no. | 559[3] |
Delaware Bay is theestuary outlet of theDelaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states ofDelaware andNew Jersey. It is approximately 782 square miles (2,030 km2) in area,[2] the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of theAtlantic Ocean.
The bay is bordered inland by the states ofDelaware andNew Jersey, and its mouth is framed byCape Henlopen in Delaware andCape May in New Jersey, on the Atlantic. Delaware Bay is bordered by six counties: Sussex, Kent, and New Castle in Delaware, and Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem in New Jersey. TheCape May–Lewes Ferry crosses Delaware Bay fromNorth Cape May, New Jersey, toLewes, Delaware. The bay's ports are managed by theDelaware River and Bay Authority.
The shores of the bay are largely composed ofsalt marshes andmudflats, with only small communities inhabiting the shore of the lower bay. Several of the rivers hold protected status for their salt marshwetlands bordering the bay, which serves as a breeding ground for many aquatic species, includinghorseshoe crabs. The bay is also a primeoystering ground.
Delaware Bay was designated aRamsar Wetland of International Importance on May 20, 1992. It was the first site classified in theWestern Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.
Delaware Bay is theria of the Delaware River, i.e. the drowned river valley that had been the river’s alluvial plain in periods of lower sea level during theQuaternary glaciation. While the Delaware River is by far the largest tributary of Delaware Bay, numerous smaller rivers and streams also drain to the bay. These include theAppoquinimink River,Leipsic River,Smyrna River,St. Jones River,Mispillion River,Broadkill River andMurderkill Rivers on the Delaware side, and theSalem River,Cohansey River, andMaurice Rivers on the New Jersey side.
Delaware Bay ecosystem is a key stopover site for over 30 species of migrating shorebirds that migrate north come May. Many birds likered knots use this Bay area to fuel up their energy reserves onhorseshoe crab eggs after the long journey. Delaware Bay hosts the largest population of horseshoe crabs in the world.[4][5][6][7][8]
At the time of the arrival of theEuropeans in the early 17th century, the area around the bay was inhabited by the Native AmericanLenape people. They called the Delaware River "Lenape Wihittuck", which means "the rapid stream of the Lenape". Delaware Bay was called "Poutaxat", which means "near the falls".[9][10]
In 1523,Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón had received fromCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor a grant for the land explored in 1521 by Francisco Gordillo and slave trader Captain Pedro de Quejo (de Quexo). Ayllón sent Quejo northward in 1525 and received reports of the coastline from as far north as Delaware Bay. That same year, De Ayllon and Captain Quejo called Delaware Bay by the name "Saint Christopher's Bay". In the 1600s, the bay was known as "Niew Port May" afterCaptain Cornelius May.[10]
Another recorded European visit to the bay was byHenry Hudson, who claimed it for theDutch East India Company in 1609. The Dutch called the estuary "Godyns Bay", or "Godins Bay" after a director of the company,Samuel Godijn.[10][11] As part of theNew Netherland colony, the Dutch established several settlements (the most famous beingZwaanendael) on the shores of the bay and explored its coast extensively. The thin nature of the corporate colony's presence in the bay and along what was called the South River (now the Delaware) made it possible forPeter Minuit, the former director of New Netherland, to establish a competingSwedish sponsored settlement,New Sweden in 1638. The resulting dispute with the Dutch colonial authorities inNew Amsterdam (New York City) was settled whenPetrus Stuyvesant led a Dutch military force into the area in 1655. After the English took title to the New Netherland colony in 1667 at theTreaty of Breda the bay came into their possession and was renamed Delaware Bay, the name given it in 1610 bySamuel Argall, after the then new Governor of Virginia,Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr.[10] TheNative American tribe living along the bay and river were later called the Delaware by the Europeans due to their location. The U.S. state also takes its name from the bay and the river.
Conflicting crown grants were made to theJames, Duke of York andWilliam Penn on the west bank of the bay and river. Settlement grew rapidly, leadingPhiladelphia, upriver on the Delaware, to become the largest city inNorth America in the 18th century. Penn viewed access to Delaware Bay as being so critical to Pennsylvania's survival that he engaged in an eighty-year longlegal boundary dispute with the Calvert family to secure it. During theFrench and Indian War the dissemination ofJoshua Fisher's original publication of the "Chart of Delaware Bay" was restricted by the authorities as its accuracy might advantage an enemy approach.[12] In 1782 during theAmerican Revolutionary War,Continental NavyLieutenantJoshua Barneyfought with a British squadron within the bay. Barney's force of threesloops defeated aRoyal Navyfrigate, a sloop-of-war and aLoyalistprivateer.
The strategic importance of the bay was noticed by theMarquis de Lafayette during theAmerican Revolutionary War, who proposed the use ofPea Patch Island at the head of the bay for a defensive fortification to protect the important ports Philadelphia andNew Castle, Delaware.Fort Delaware was later constructed on Pea Patch Island. During theAmerican Civil War it was used as aUnion prison camp.
In 1855, the United States government systematically undertook the formation of a 26 ft (7.9 m) channel 600 ft (180 m) wide fromPhiladelphia to deep water in Delaware Bay. TheRivers and Harbors Act of 1899 provided for a 30-foot (9.1 m) channel 600 feet (180 m) wide from Philadelphia to the deep water of the bay. Other names for the bay have been "South Bay" and "Zuyt Baye".[10]
The bay is one of the most important navigational channels in the United States; it is the second busiest waterway after theMississippi River. Its lower course forms part of theIntracoastal Waterway. The need for direct navigation around the two capes into the ocean is circumvented by theCape May Canal and theLewes and Rehoboth Canal at the north and south capes respectively. The upper bay is connected directly to the north end ofChesapeake Bay by theChesapeake and Delaware Canal.
The U.S Coast Guard sector for Delaware Bay was established in 2005, and has 570 active personnel, and 195 reservists.[13]
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