The bay is approximately 200 miles (320 km) long from its northern headwaters in theSusquehanna River to its outlet in the Atlantic Ocean. It is 2.8 miles (4.5 km) wide at its narrowest (betweenKent County's Plum Point near Newtown in the east and theHarford County western shore near Romney Creek) and 30 miles (48 km) at its widest (just south of the mouth of thePotomac 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 theChesapeake Bay Bridge fromSandy Point (nearAnnapolis) toKent Island and in Virginia by theChesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel connectingVirginia Beach toCape Charles.
Known for both its beauty and bounty, the bay has become "emptier", with fewer crabs,oysters andwatermen (fishermen) since the mid-20th century.[6]Nutrient pollution andurban runoff have been identified as major components of impaired water quality in the bay, stressing ecosystems and compounding the decline of shellfish due tooverharvesting. 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, includingclimate change, which is causingsea level rise that erodes coastal areas and infrastructure and changes the marine ecosystem.[11]
The wordChesepiooc is anAlgonquian word referring to a village 'at a big river'. It is the seventh-oldest surviving English placename in the United States, first applied asChesepiook by explorers heading north from theRoanoke Colony into a Chesapeake tributary in 1585 or 1586. The name may also refer to theChesapeake people or the Chesepian, a Native American tribe who inhabited the area now known as SouthHampton 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 linguistBlair 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]
The first European name for the bay was "Bahia de Santa Maria" (St. Mary's bay). This name was coined by the Spanish.[14]
The Chesapeake Bay is anestuary to the North Atlantic, lying between theDelmarva Peninsula to the east and the North American mainland to the west. It is theria, or drowned valley, of theSusquehanna River, meaning that it was the alluvial plain where the river flowed when the sea level was lower. It is not afjord, because theLaurentide Ice Sheet never reached as far south as the northernmost point on the bay. North ofBaltimore, the western shore borders the hillyPiedmont region of Maryland; south of the city the bay lies within the state's low-lyingcoastal 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 abolideimpact event at the end of theEocene (about 35.5 million years ago), forming theChesapeake 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 theCalvert County, Maryland, coastline, are lined by cliffs composed of deposits from receding waters millions of years ago. These cliffs, generally known asCalvert Cliffs, are famous for theirfossils, 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.[15]
View of the eastern bay in Maryland at sunsetTheChesapeake 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 ofHavre 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;[16] over 24 percent of the bay is less than 6 ft (2 m) deep.[17]
Because the bay is an estuary, it has fresh water, salt water andbrackish water. Brackish water has threesalinity zones: oligohaline, mesohaline, andpolyhaline. The freshwater zone runs from the mouth of the Susquehanna River to northBaltimore. 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 theRappahannock 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.)[18]
The climate of the area surrounding the bay is primarilyhumid 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 Susquehannaflats 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.[19]
A malemanatee 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 alegendary sea monster that was allegedly sighted in the bay during the 20th century.[35][36][37] The same manatee has been spotted as far north asRhode Island, and was the first manatee known to travel so far north.[38] Other manatees are occasionally seen in the bay and its tributaries, which contain sea grasses that are part of the manatee's diet.[39]
The Chesapeake Bay is also home to a diverse flora, both land and aquatic. Commonsubmerged aquatic vegetation includeseelgrass andwidgeon 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."[40] Other vegetation that makes its home in other parts of the bay arewild rice, various trees like thered maple,loblolly pine andbald cypress, andspartina grass andphragmites.[41]Invasive plants have taken a significant foothold in the bay. Plants such as Phragmites, Purple loosestrife and Japanese stiltgrass have established high levels of permanency in Chesapeake wetlands.[42] Additionally, plants such asBrazilian 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 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.[citation needed]
It is presumed that the Chesapeake Bay was once inhabited by Paleoindians 11,000 years ago.[43] For thousands of years, Native American societies lived in villages of woodenlonghouses 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.[44] 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 the Chesapeake Bay formed confederations such as thePowhatan, thePiscataway, and theNanticoke. Each of these confederations consisted of a collection of smaller tribes falling under the leadership of a central chief.[45]
Revised map[46] ofJohn White's original by Theodore DeBry. In this 1590 version, the Chesapeake Bay appears named for the first time.[47]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 explorerGiovanni da Verrazzano, (1485–1528), in service of theFrench crown, (famous for sailing through and thereafter naming the entrance toNew York Bay as the "Verrazzano Narrows", including now in the 20th century, asuspension bridge also named forhim) sailed past the Chesapeake, but did not enter the bay.[48] Spanish explorerLucas Vásquez de Ayllón sent an expedition out fromHispaniola in 1525 that reached the mouths of the Chesapeake andDelaware 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")[49] De Ayllón established a short-livedSpanish mission settlement,San Miguel de Gualdape, in 1526 along theAtlantic coast. Many scholars doubt the assertion that it was as far north as the Chesapeake; most place it in present-dayGeorgia'sSapelo Island.[50] In 1573,Pedro Menéndez de Márquez, the governor of Spanish Florida, conducted further exploration of the Chesapeake.[48] In 1570, SpanishJesuits established the short-livedAjacan Mission on one of the Chesapeake tributaries in present-day Virginia.[citation needed]
The arrival of English colonists underSir Walter Raleigh andHumphrey Gilbert in the late 16th century to found a colony, later settled atRoanoke Island (off the present-day coast ofNorth Carolina) for theVirginia Company, marked the first time that the English approached the gates to the Chesapeake Bay between the capes ofCape Charles andCape Henry. Three decades later, in 1607, Europeans again entered the bay.Captain John Smith ofEngland explored and mapped the bay between 1607 and 1609, resulting in the publication in 1612 back in theBritish Isles of"A Map of Virginia".[51] Smith wrote in his journal: "Heaven and earth have never agreed better to frame a place for man's habitation."[52] TheCaptain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, the first designated "all-water"National Historic Trail in the US, was established in 2006 by theNational Park Service. The trail follows the route of Smith's historic 17th-century voyage.[53] Because of economic hardships and civil strife in the "Mother Land", there was a mass migration of southern EnglishCavaliers and their servants to the Chesapeake Bay region between 1640 and 1675, to both of the new colonies of theProvince of Virginia and theProvince of Maryland.[citation needed]
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 bay would again see conflict duringWar of 1812. During the year of 1813, from their base onTangier Island, British naval forces under the command of AdmiralGeorge Cockburn raided several towns on the shores of the Chesapeake, treating the bay as if it were a "British Lake". TheChesapeake Bay Flotilla, a fleet of shallow-draft armed barges under the command ofU.S. Navy CommodoreJoshua 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 atBenedict, Maryland, the Chesapeake Flotilla was scuttled, and the British trekked overland torout the U.S. Army at Bladensburg andburn the U.S. Capitol in August 1814. A few days later in a "pincer attack", they also sailed up the Potomac River to attackFort Washington below the National Capital andraided the nearby port town ofAlexandria, 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 whoseskipjacks and other workboats were supplanted by recreational craft in the latter part of the century.[54]
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 theBaltimore Steam Packet Company ("Old Bay Line").
In the later 20th century, a series of road crossings were built. One, theChesapeake Bay Bridge (also known as the Governor William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge) between the state capital ofAnnapolis, Maryland andMatapeake on theEastern Shore, crossingKent Island, was constructed 1949–1952. A second, parallel, span was added in 1973. TheChesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel, connectingVirginia's Eastern Shore with its mainland (at the metropolitan areas ofVirginia Beach,Norfolk,Portsmouth, andChesapeake), 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.[56][57]
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,[58] while another study later found that the geometry of the bay permits for a resonant period of 1.46 days.[59]
At the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel (CBBT) site, which lies at the southernmost point of the bay where it meets the Atlantic Ocean nearNorfolk, Virginia, and the capes ofCharles andHenry, 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).
The bay is well known for its seafood, especiallyblue crabs,[60]clams, andoysters. In the middle of the 20th century, the bay supported 9,000 full-time watermen, according to one account.[60] Today, the body of water is less productive than it used to be because ofrunoff from urban areas (mostly on the Western Shore) and farms (especially on theEastern Shore and in the Susquehanna River watershed), over-harvesting, andinvasion of foreign species.
The plentiful oyster harvests led to the development of theskipjack (such as theHelen Virginia), 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 thelog canoe, thepungy, thebugeye, and the motorizedChesapeake Bay deadrise, the state boat of Virginia.[61]
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.[62] Oyster farms provide jobs as well as a natural effort for filteringexcess nutrients from the water in an effort to reduce the effects ofeutrophicationpollution (too much algae). TheChesapeake Bay Program promotes oyster restoration projects to reduce the amount of nitrogen compounds entering the bay.[63]
The bay is famous for its rockfish, a regional name forstriped 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.[64]
Other popular recreational fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay includeshad,[65]cobia,croaker, andredfish,winter flounder, andsummer flounder. Recently, non-nativeblue catfish have proliferated in tributaries like theJames River and may be moving to other areas of the bay.[66] A commercial fishery exists formenhaden, too oily for human consumption but instead used for bait, fish oil, and livestock feed.[67]
TheThomas Point Shoal Light in MarylandAs of 2021, the luxury townhomes on Carr's Beach and Sparrow's Beach.Tidalwetlands of the Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is a main feature for tourists who visit Maryland and Virginia each year.[68] Fishing, crabbing, swimming, boating, kayaking,[24] 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.[69] One report suggested that Annapolis was an appealing spot for families, water sports and boating.[70] 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.[52]
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[71]
The Chesapeake Bay plays an extremely 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 theClean 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 theChesapeake Bay Foundation.[72]
Incolonial times, simple cooking techniques were used to create one pot meals like ham and potatocasserole, 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 includedterrapins, smoked hams, blue crab, shellfish, local fish, game meats and various species of waterfowl. Blue crab continues to be an especially popular regional specialty.[73]
European settlers around the Chesapeake Bay in the late 17th and early 18th centuries brought with them industrial agricultural techniques. Land clearance and deep plowing of farmland increased sediment and nutrient loading into the bay, which continued to increase as the area continued to develop.[74]
Deadmenhaden floating in the bay in 1973Dissolved oxygen levels (Milligrams per liter) required by various marine animals living in the Chesapeake Bay.Dissolved oxygen levels, 2023
In the 1970s, the Chesapeake Bay was found to contain one of the planet's first identifiedmarine dead zones, where waters were so depleted of oxygen that they were unable to support life, resulting in massivefish 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'sfood 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 largealgal blooms, which are nourished by the runoff of residential, farm and industrialwaste throughout the watershed. A 2010 report criticizedAmish farmers in Pennsylvania for raising cows with inadequate controls on the manure that they generate. Farms inLancaster County, Pennsylvania generate large quantities of manure that washes into tributaries of the bay.[75]
The pollution entering the bay has multiple components that contribute to algal blooms, principally the nutrientsphosphorus andnitrogen. 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 ofsediment into the bay, exacerbated by devegetation, construction and the prevalence of pavement in urban and suburban areas, also block vital sunlight. The resulting loss ofaquatic vegetation has depleted the habitat for much of the bay's animal life. Beds ofeelgrass, 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.[76]
The principal sources of nutrient pollution in the bay aresurface 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.[77] Extensive use of lawn fertilizers[78][79] and air pollution from motor vehicles and power plants are also significant nutrient sources.[80]
The sediment record of the bay shows a major increase in nutrient levels, suggesting limited availability of oxygen, starting between the 17th and 18th centuries.[74] (Zimmerman & Canuel, 2002) The overloading of nutrients into the bay only continued to increase throughout the modern era. Recently deposited sediments in the bay have 2 to 3 times greater amounts of organic carbon, and 4 to 20 times greater amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus input into the bay than the pre-colonial era (Cornwell et al., 1996; Fisher et al., 2006).
The nutrient runoff from land sources causes a huge increase in available nutrients in the water. Algae present in the bay take up those nutrients and rapidly reproduce in algal blooms. As algae sink to the bottom, they are decomposed, consuming oxygen (Long et al. 2014). Seasonal stratification in the bay typically occurs between Spring and early Fall (Officer et al. 1984; Cerco & Noel 2007). More sunlight, higher temperatures, and less storms and winds during the summer cause strongly stratified water column, with a pycnocline typically 10 meters below the surface (Cerco & Noel; Seliger et al.). As oxygen is depleted from the decomposition of organic matter in bottom waters, but is not able to exchange gas with surface water due to a strong pycnocline, dissolved oxygen levels reach near zero by mid-June and can persist until October (Officer et al.). Organisms living in bottom waters may have some tolerance to hypoxia, but when events exceed their tolerance, ecologically and commercially important crabs, oysters, and mesoplankton become unhealthy and may experience die offs (Kirby & Miller; Officer; Kimmel).
One particularly harmful source oftoxicity isPfiesteria 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.[81]
Sanitary sewers and somesewage treatment plants in the Chesapeake Bay region have occasionally contributed significant pollution to the bay. Although the region's treatment plants are designed to meet state and federal standards, the Baltimore city sewage collection system experiencessanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) during large rainstorms, which can cause excessive pollutant discharges into the bay.[82] In 2021, 11% of nitrogen and 15% of phosphorus levels in the Chesapeake Bay were traced from sewage plants.[83] In 2024, a heavy rainfall led to the overflow of 14 million gallons of sewage discharged by theBack River Wastewater Treatment Plant. The sewage leaked into local Baltimore waterways and the bay, leading to an amount of sewage overflow expected in one year to be released in one day.[84] The city has also had difficulty in providing regular adequate maintenance at the Back River plant, which can lead to spills and leaks.[85]
The Patapsco and Back River plants, the two largest treatment plants in Maryland, have contributed to the growth ofphragmite plants in biological cleaning tanks, which are used for cleaning returning water of nitrogen and phosphorus. In 2021 the city completed its "Headworks Project" at the Back River plant which provides additional underground storage of wastewater, to address the SSO problems, at a cost of $124 million.[86][87] In April 2025 theMaryland Department of the Environment announced that it had awarded grants to make further improvements to the Baltimore treatment plants, and to install atrash interceptor on the Back River.[88]
Washington, D.C., similar to Baltimore and many older U.S. cities, operates acombined sewer system. The oldest portions of the sewage collection system were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and cover about one-third of the city's service area. During large rain storms, the collection system may be overloaded, leading tocombined sewer overflows (CSOs) and discharges of untreated sewage into the Potomac River,Anacostia River andRock Creek. To address the city's CSO problems, in 2013DC Water began building large stormwater storage facilities as part of its "Clean Rivers" project. As of 2025 portions of the storage tunnel system are in operation. When the $2.99 billion project concludes in 2030 the system improvements, which include construction of 18 miles (29 km) of tunnels, as well asgreen infrastructure projects, are expected to reduce CSO discharges by 96%.[89][90]
While the bay's salinity is ideal for oysters and the oyster fishery was at one time the bay's most commercially viable,[91] 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).[91] 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.[92] The harvest's gross value decreased 88% from 1982 to 2007.[93] One report suggested the bay had fewer oysters in 2008 than 25 years earlier.[6] The primary problem isoverharvesting. 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. 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.[91][needs update] The bay's oyster industry has also suffered from two diseases:MSX andDermo.[94]
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 soturbid that a wader may lose sight of his feet while his knees are still dry.[citation needed]
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 toCongress directing theUS 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.[95][96]
The growing concerns about pollution also prompted the legislatures of Maryland and Virginia to establish theChesapeake 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.[97]
As an initial follow-up to the EPA report, the Chesapeake Bay Commission and EPA developed theChesapeake Bay Agreement in 1983. The agreement was signed 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 theChesapeake 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.[98]
Concurrent with the 1983 agreement EPA began providing matching grants to the bay states for research and restoration projects.[96]
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 baytributaries.[99]
In response to the decline of the oyster population, for decades theMaryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) has restricted the amount of oyster harvesting in the bay, and designated certain areas as off-limits to harvesting.[100][101] As of 2025 MDNR continues to regulate oyster harvesting by limiting the amount of oysters harvested per day, and limiting the number of harvest days per week.[102]
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 currentwater 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 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.[103][needs update]
In June 2000, the Chesapeake Bay Program adoptedChesapeake 2000, an agreement adopted by the member jurisdictions, intended to guide restoration activities throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed through 2010.[104] One component of this agreement was a series of upgrades tosewage 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."[105]
EPA published a series of scientific documents onwater quality criteria for the bay between 2004 and 2010. The criteria documents, which describe specific pollutants and their effects on aquatic species,[106] are used by the states to developwater quality standards (WQS) for individual water bodies.[107] 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.[108]
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 theOyster Recovery Partnership, with some success. In 2011 the group placed 6 million oysters on eight acres (32,000 m2) of the Trent Hall sanctuary.[109] Scientists from theVirginia Institute of Marine Science at theCollege 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.[110]
Dams on bay tributaries have blocked passages formigratory fish. Removing such blockages was one of the goals identified in the 2014 bay watershed agreement. During 2022-2023, 13 dams were removed, yielding a total of 303 miles (488 km) of tributaries opened to restore fish migration. Since 1989, the cumulative total of fish migration route restorations in the tributaries is 35,258 miles (56,742 km).[111]
In 2009 the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) filed suit against EPA for its failure to finalize atotal maximum daily load (TMDL) ruling for the bay, pursuant to the Clean Water Act. The TMDL would restrictwater pollution from farms, land development, power plants and sewage treatment plants.[112] 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),[108] 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.[113] The TMDL was challenged in litigation by the agriculture and construction industries, but EPA's document was upheld by the courts.[114]
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.[115] CBF and EPA reached a settlement on the lawsuit in 2023. EPA agreed to increase its efforts to reduce farm and stormwater runoff pollution in Pennsylvania, including compliance and enforcement actions.[116][117]
EPA's 2010 TMDL document requires all states in the bay watershed region to develop detailed implementation plans for pollutant reduction.[118] 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.[119] 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 variousbest 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 vegetatedstream buffers along a stream bank to reduce runoff of sediment, nutrients and other pollutants.[120] A land developer may installstormwater management facilities such asinfiltration basins orconstructed wetlands during the construction of housing or commercial buildings.[121]
In 2011 both Maryland and Virginia enacted laws to reduce the effects of lawn fertilizer use, by restricting nitrogen and phosphorus content.[122] The Virginia law also banneddeicers containing urea, nitrogen or phosphorus.[123]
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.[124] 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.[125]
In May 2025 GovernorWes Moore signed the Chesapeake Bay Legacy Act which allots up to $900,000 per year to a new certification program for farmers who use sustainable practices that decrease runoff into the bay, establishes a water quality monitoring program to unify current testing efforts and aims to streamline oyster aquaculture leasing, among other provisions.[126]
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.[52] Compounding the problem is that 100,000 new residents move to the area each year.[52] A 2008Washington 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."[127] In January 2011, there were reports that millions of fish had died, but officials suggested it was probably the result of extremely cold weather.[128]
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 theUniversity 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 thePatapsco River andBack 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 asSecchi depth). Oyster and rockfish populations in the bay have improved, but blue crab populations have continued to decline.[129]
In the 2023 annual report the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science rated the Chesapeake Bay's overall health a C-plus or 55%, its highest score since 2002.[130][131]
Population density and elevation above sea level around the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay is especially vulnerable tosea level rise.
The Chesapeake Bay is already experiencing the effects ofclimate 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 ofextreme weather on the bay, makingcoastal flooding as part of the events more extreme and increasing runoff from upstream in the watershed.[11][132]
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 asHolland Island have disappeared due to the rising sea levels.[133][134]
Beyond sea level rise, other changes in the marine ecosystem due to climate change, such asocean 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.[132]
Climate change may worsenhypoxia. However, compared to the current effects ofnutrient pollution andalgal 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.[135]
Climate change adaptation and mitigation programs inMaryland andVirginia often include significant programs to address the communities in the Chesapeake Bay.[136] Key infrastructure in Virginia, such as the port ofNorfolk,[136] and major agriculture and fishing industries of theEastern Shore of Maryland will be directly impacted by the changes in the bay.[137]
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, theVirginia Institute of Marine Science monitors the abundance ofsubmerged aquatic vegetation in the shallow areas of the Chesapeake Bay each summer.[138] Many organizations run continuous monitoring programs. Monitoring programs set out instruments at fixed stations onbuoys, moorings, and docks throughout the bay to record things like temperature,salinity,chlorophyll-a concentration,dissolved oxygen, andturbidity over time.[139][140][141]
Organizations actively collecting data in the Chesapeake Bay include, but are not limited to:
In 1988, the Maryland Maritime Archeology Program (MMAP) was established to manage and explore various underwater archaeological. This was in response to theNational Abandoned Shipwreck Act passed in 1987, which gave ownership of historically significant shipwrecks to those states with proper management programs.[142]
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, destruction of the environment, and currently poultry farms. 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."[143] 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.
Altogether there are more than 1,800 ship and boat wrecks that scatter the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding waterways.[144] 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 1974, scallop fishermen dredged up the skull of a prehistoricmastodon, 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 theSolutrean 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. TheSolutrean hypothesis challenges the previous theory regarding the first inhabitants of North America, whereas it is commonly accepted amongst anthropologists that theClovis 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.[145]
TheChesapeake Bay Flotilla, which was constructed using shallow barges and ships to counter British naval attacks during theWar of 1812. After holding strong for some months, the British eventually defeated 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.[146]
In October 1774, the British merchant brigPeggy Stewart arrived at the port ofAnnapolis loaded with tea disguised as linens and garments. The tea was hidden by the ship's crew to avoid conflict with local colonists as the recently imposed tea tax had created hostility and uncertainty in the colonies. The crew ofPeggy Stewart informed the colonists of the new taxes for the purchased tea. The colonists refused to pay the tax and after a few days of public meetings, the colonists decided to burnPeggy Stewart and the contents of it. The brig was burnt to the waterline in what became known as the 'Annapolis Tea Party' and has since become an important site for underwater archaeologists in the Chesapeake Bay.[147] In 1949, after the Nazi's defeat in World War 2, the United States seized aGerman 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.[148]
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 scuttled more than a dozen ships in theYork River, near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Under the ultimate command ofLord Cornwallis, a group of British ships was pushed back towards the rivers of the Chesapeake, and to avoid them from falling into French and Spanish hands, Cornwallis began ordering them to be scuttled with the hopes of stalling the incoming Franco-American forces. 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,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 magazineNational 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 the scuttled ships. Unfortunately, following the publicity of these sunken ships, many divers have taken it upon themselves to explore the wreckage for 'treasure'.[149]
Chesapeake Requiem: A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island (2018), byEarl Swift, a New York Times bestselling nonfiction book about the crabbing community of the Chesapeake Bay.[157]
Jacob Have I Loved (1980) byKatherine Paterson, winner of the 1981Newbery 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, andWithout Remorse (1993), in which protagonist John Kelly (later known asJohn Clark when he goes to work for theCIA), lives on a boat and an island in the bay, both byTom Clancy.
Red Kayak (2004) byPriscilla Cummings portrays class conflict between waterman people and wealthy newcomers.
Sabbatical: A Romance (1982) centered on a yacht race through the bay, andThe Tidewater Tales (1987) detailed a married couple telling stories to each other as they cruise the bay, both novels byJohn Barth.
The Oyster Wars of Chesapeake Bay (1997) by John Wennersten, on theOyster Wars in the decades following the Civil War.[158]
The Bay, a 2012found footage-style eco-horror movie about apandemic due to deadly pollution from chicken factory farm run-off and mutantisopods and aquatic parasites able to infect humans.
Singer and songwriterTom 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."[163] He was known as the "Bard of the Chesapeake Bay."[163]
The Chesapeake Bay is referenced in the hit musicalHamilton, in the song "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)." It describes the famousBattle of Yorktown, the last battle in theRevolutionary 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!"
^Also shown asChisupioc (byJohn Smith) andChisapeack, in Algonquianche means 'big' or 'great',sepi means river, and theoc orok ending indicated something (a village, in this case) 'at' that feature.Sepi is also found in another placename ofAlgonquian 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.
^"FAQ". Scientists Cliffs community. Archived fromthe original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved2008-05-08.
^"Geography". Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Archived fromthe original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved2008-04-21. Other sources give values of 25 feet (e.g."Charting the Chesapeake 1590–1990". Maryland State Archives. Archived fromthe original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved2008-04-21.) or 30 feet (9.1 m) deep ("Healthy Chesapeake Waterways"(PDF). University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2008-06-26. Retrieved2008-04-21.)
^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.S2CID129432081.
^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. Archived fromthe original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved12 June 2012.
^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). Archived fromthe original on 2022-01-20. Retrieved2024-11-04.
^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.ISBN978-0-309-12540-6.
^Center, Whitaker; Arts (21 July 2021)."Expedition Chesapeake". Whitaker Center. Archived fromthe original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved23 February 2022.
Cerco, C. F., Noel, M. R. (2007). Can oyster restoration reverse cultural eutrophication in Chesapeake Bay? Estuaries and Coasts, 30(2): 331–343.
Cornwell, J. C., Conley, D. J., Owens, M., Stevenson, J. C. (1996). A sediment chronology of the eutrophication of Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries, 19(2B): 486–499.
Fisher, T. R., Hagy III, J. D., Boynton, W. R., Williams, M. R. (2006). Cultural eutrophication of the Choptank and Patuxent estuaries of Chesapeake Bay. Limnology and Oceanography, 51(1, part 2): 435–447.
Kimmel, D, G., Boynton, W. R., Roman, M. R. (2012). Long-term decline in calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa in central Chesapeake Bay, USA: An indirect effect of eutrophication? Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science, 101: 76–85.
Kirby, M. X., Miller, H. M. (2005). Response of a benthic suspension feeder (Crassostrea virginica Gmelin) to three centuries of anthropogenic eutrophication in Chesapeake Bay. Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science, 62:679–689.
Long, W. C., Seitz, R. D., Brylawski, B. J., Lipicus, R. N. (2014). Individual, population, and ecosystem effects of hypoxia on a dominant benthic bivalve in Chesapeake Bay. Ecological Monographs, 84(2): 303–327.
Officer, C. B., Biggs, R. B., Taft, J. L., Cronin, L. E., Tyler, M. A., Boynton, W. R. (1984). Chesapeake Bay anoxia: origin, development, and significance. Science, 223(4631): 22–27.
Seliger, H. H., Boggs, J. A., Biggley, W. H. (1985). Catastrophic anoxia in the Chesapeake Bay in 1984. Science, 228(4695): 70–73.
Zimmerman, A. R., Canuel, E. A. (2002). Sediment geochemical records of eutrophication in the mesohaline Chesapekae Bay. Limnology and Oceanography, 47(4): 1084–1093.
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.
William W. Warner,Beautiful Swimmers, about the history, ecology and anthropology of the Chesapeake Bay, published 1976
Sturdivant, S. K., Diaz, R., Llanso, R., Dauer, D. (2014). Relationship between hypoxia and macrobenthic production in Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries and Coasts. 37(5). DOI:10.1007/s12237-013-9763-4.
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