In North America, the Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary, a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with a free connection to the open sea. It was created more than 10,000 years ago when glaciers melted and flooded the Susquehanna River Valley. Today, fresh water from land drainage measurably dilutes seawater within the Bay.
Boating Waters |
Critical Area |
Main Basin |
Seafood |
Water Frontage |
Watershed |
Seagull at pier, Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, December 2002. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
For ocean-going ships, the Bay is navigable with two outlets to the Atlantic Ocean: north through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in Cecil County, and south through the mouth of the Bay between the Virginia capes.
Native Americans living along its shores gave the Bay an Algonquin name. Chesepiook, meaning "great shellfish bay," was used to signify the abundance of Bay crabs, oysters, and clams. The Bay was the site of the first English settlement in Maryland and later saw the Civil War confrontation between the iron-clad Confederate Merrimac and the Union's Monitor in 1862. Generations of watermen have made their living harvesting the bounty of the Bay, while recreational fishing, hunting, and boating attract millions of people each year and contribute significantly to Maryland's economy. Major annual seafood harvests include millions of bushels of crabs, oysters, clams, and eels.
Skipjacks under sail. Photo by Chuck Prahl.
Information about the Bay, including its history and effect on regional culture, may be found at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum at St. Michaels.
The Bay watershed provides rich habitat for an abundance of life. In addition to resident species of fish and wildlife, the Bay supports large winter populations of migratory waterfowl and provides spawning, nursery and feeding grounds for ocean fish. This diversity results in 2,700 different species of plants and animals living in the Bay area. The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science conducts research on the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.
According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, the number of people living within the Bay's watershed was 17.4 million in 2010, up from 16.9 million in 2009. Scientists project that the population of the watershed will approach 19 million by 2020.
? Copyright Maryland State Archives
MAIN BASIN
AREA
Maryland
1,726 square miles
Virginia
1,511 square miles
LENGTH
195 miles
WIDTH
(widest near Cape Charles, Virginia)
30 miles
(narrowest at Annapolis)
4 miles
SHORELINE
4,600 miles
DEPTH
average
25 feet
greatest (southeast of Annapolis)
174 feet
TIDAL RANGE
at Annapolis
1 foot
at head
2 feet
at mouth
3 feet
VOLUME
18 trillion gallons
SURFACE SALINITY
(parts per thousand)
at mouth
30 ppt
midway to head
15 ppt
above fall line
00 ppt
surface to bottom
2-3 ppt
WATER FRONTAGE
WATERSHED
Chesapeake Bay Commission
Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Commission
Chesapeake Bay Trust
Maryland State Crustacean
Maryland State Fish
Maryland State Reptile
Maryland Constitutional Offices & Agencies
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Maryland Executive Commissions, Committees, Task Forces, & Advisory Boards
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e-mail: mdmanual@mdarchives.state.md.us