4. The Chesapeake Bay
A small part of the Universe
A Big part of our Lives
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5. How Big Is the Chesapeake
Bay?
• 180-200 miles North to South
• Shoreline is 4,600 miles long
• Average depth is 30 feet
• The Chesapeake bay is the nations largest estuary
• 80 % water from Susquehanna, Potomac, James rivers
• The Chesapeake bay runs from Maryland to Virginia
• Bordering states are VA and MD
• Watershed is VA, MD, DE, PA, and WV
• Western shore has the largest rivers
• 498,000 acres of wetlands
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6. SALINITY
• Salinity is measured in parts per thousand 0/00
• This means how much salt (particles) there are in
a thousand parts of water
• Varies from fresh in the North to salty in the
South
• Salinity is greater at bottom due to gravity
• Euryhaline is an organism that is tolerant to
salinity changes
• Has tides twice a month called Semi-diurnal
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8. WETLANDS
• Has 2,700 species of plants and animals
• 10 tons of organic matter is grown acre/year
such as spartina , asters, hibiscus, and
cordgrass
• Oyster bar communities are the base for many
other organisms such are crabs, whelk,& eels
• Half of blue crabs in nation live here
• Many juvenile marine organisms use wetlands
as a nursery ground
• Includes essential nutrients, detritus, and
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minerals 8
9. CHESAPEAKE BAY
Largest estuary in One of the most
the U.S. diverse estuaries
Highly valued for its
sea life, waterfowl, sport
fishing & rec boating
Stretches to the mouth
of the Susquehanna Shipping artery for
River Norfolk & Baltimore
Threatened by environmental
degradation caused by man
induced pollution
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11. Channel Depth
Thimble Shoal Channel ~ 15-25m deep
Chesapeake Channel ~ 15-25m deep
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12. SEA LEVEL RISE
• At the end of the last glacial epoch, sea level rose
relatively rapidly as continental glaciers melted.
•10,000 years ago, the main channel of the ancient
Susquehanna River valley was flooded and became
a narrow estuary.
•Sea level at that time stood approx 9 meters lower
than the present level.
•Islands once populated in colonial time & during
the past century have disappeared due to
submergence and related shore erosion.
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13. • Submerged & eroded Sharps Island, formerly at the
mouth of the Choptank estuary, is recalled only by a
prominent lighthouse erected in 1882 and is now covered
by 3- to 4-meter water depths.
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14. • Expanding wetlands are claiming low-lying
communities on Smith Island & Tangier Island.
• Settlements begun in the 18th & 19th centuries, together
with their churches & cemeteries, are often surrounded by
the rising water of the bay during periods of extreme
high tides -- a prologue to the rising sea level.
• Extreme high
tide at Hoopers
Island, Eastern
Shore (1998)
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16. INDIANS
• IN 9000 B.C. THE NATIVE
AMERICANS ARRIVE IN THE
CHESAPEAKE BAY
• THE NATIVE AMERICANS FISH IN
THE BAY WITH SPEARS, TRAPS
AND HOOKS
• THE SUSQUEHANNOCK OF THE
IROQUOIS NATION LIVED NORTH
OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY
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17. SETTLERS
• IN 1607, JOHN SMITH BEGIN HIS EXPLORATION OF THE
BAY.
• ALSO IN 1607 THE FIRST PERMAENT NEW WORLD
ENGLISH SETTLEMENT ESTABLISHED IN JAMESTOWN.
• IN 1835, THE CHESAPEAKE REGION FORESTS IS
CLEARED FOR AGRICULTURE, TIMBER AND FUEL FOR
HOMES AND INDUSTRY.
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18. AFRICAN AMERICANS
IN 1619, AFRICANS WERE BROUGHT
OVER BY THE DUTCH
FREDERICK DOUGLASS USED THE
CHESAPEAKE BAY TO ESCAPE
SLAVERY.
BETWEEN 1700 AND 1770, SLAVE POPULATION GREW IN
THE CHESAPEAKE BAY to 250,000.
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19. FAMOUS BATTLES
• BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL IN JUNE 17, 1775
• DURING THE MID-1800’S THE CHESAPEAKE BAY
REGION WAS AT THE CENTER OF THE CIVIL WAR
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20. 1862 - Battle of Hampton Roads
• CSS Virginia
• Confederate
• (Ironclad warship)
• USS Monitor
• Union
• (Ironclad warship)
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24. Invertebrates
The blue crab goes through many
transformations in its 3 years.
It takes 12 to 18 months for a blue crab
to mature. Males and females are
easy to distinguish.
Jellyfish, horseshoe crabs, hermit
crabs, moon snails, and whelks are
also common invertebrates in the
bay.
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28. Reptiles
Turtles are the only reptiles with hard
carapaces that do not have teeth.
The two most common turtles found in the
Chesapeake bay are the diamondback
terrapin and the snapping turtle.
The loggerhead turtle is found in the lower part
of the Chesapeake bay.
Both the Green Sea Turtle and the Kemp’s
Ridley Turtle are found off of our coast.
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32. Fish
Mummichog Killifish
S
Breeding waters for many
fish species. Parent fish
spawn in the bay to
protect their offspring
from larger predators
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34. RESIDENT BIRDS
• Resident birds are mainly found on the
Western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in
urban and suburban areas.
• Canada geese is one type of Resident
bird.
• Resident bird originated from the
release of live decoys during the 1930’s.
• Their migration route takes them along
the eastern shore of Hudson bay&
James bay across central New York.
• Many of the geese wintering on the
Chesapeake bay breed in northern
Quebec.
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36. BIRD REFUGES
• Refuge provides habitat for
migrating and wintering
waterfowl.
• During the fall and winter
months, large flocks of
waterfowl use the Bay and
freshwater impoundments.
• Snow and Canada geese, tundra
swans, and many duck species
are abundant.
• Migrating songbirds and
shorebirds arrive at the Refuge
each spring.
• The refuge provides habitat for a
wide assortment of other
wildlife, including threatened
and endangered species fall
migration.
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39. Mammals
•Deer ,raccoons, fox, squirrels, rabbits, and
opossum are the most plentiful mammal
residents of the Chesapeake Bay area.
•Noted aquatic mammals living here are
otters, dolphins, porpoises, and whales.
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44. Algae
Phytoplankton grow in the photic zone or the
depth to which sunlight penetrates the water.
They undergo algae blooms or rapid population
growth caused by excess nutrients.
Major groups of phytoplankton are Diatoms,
Green algae, Dinoflagellates.
They are used as indicators for environmental
conditions within the bay.
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46. Bald Cypress
Grow to be 100 to 120 feet tall and 6 feet in
diameter.
Usually abundant in muck, clay or fine sand
where its very high amount of water.
Has horizontal roots which extend out 20 to
50 feet before extending down, and knees
which tower over the water.
Major groups are southern cypress, white
cypress, gulf cypress
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48. Loblolly Pine
This rapidly-growing tree thrives in the
maritime forest, at the bay’s edge.
It prefers the Bay's relatively long, hot and
humid summers.
The trees provide important nesting habitat
for bald eagles and osprey.
Loblolly pines are frequently used for soil
stabilization in areas that are subject to
severe erosion .
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50. American Holly
The American Holly, Ilex opaca, is
used a popular holiday decoration.
Bluebirds, songbirds, and thrashers
use holly for shelter, and raising
their young.
Native Americans used the wood for
many purposes, and the berries were
used for bartering and decorating.
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52. Bay Grasses
In the shallow waters of the bay, many
underwater grasses thrive.
These grasses—also known as submerged
aquatic vegetation, or SAV—are vascular
plants that grow completely underwater.
SAV contain several adaptations that give
them additional support and allow for
easier exchange of gasses.
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53. Bay Grasses
SAV play an important role in bay
ecology by performing many functions.
Some of these include providing food
and habitat, filtering sediment,
producing oxygen, and protecting the
shoreline from erosion.
They also remove excess nutrients from
the water which prevents overgrowth of
algae.
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57. Fishing on the Bay
The Chesapeake bay is home
to 295 species of fish which
only comprises 10 % of bay
life. Only 32 fish are yearly
residents.
The favorite Chesapeake bay
fish species include
rockfish, bluefish, drum,
speckled trout, flounder,
spot, and croaker.
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58. Sailing on the Bay
The recreational use of the Bay bring millions of
dollars to the local economy annually
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59. Surfing
Don’t you wish we had waves like this locally.
Average wave height at Virginia Beach, VA is about 3
feet.
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60. HUNTING
The Chesapeake bay is the famous hunting ground.
Market and waterfowl hunting is a thing of the past.
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63. • More seafood is harvested
from Chesapeake Bay than
any of the other 840 U.S.
estuaries.
• Blue crab harvest is > 1/2
of U.S. total harvest.
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64. Businesses
• Tourism is a major factor in the businesses around
the Chesapeake Bay.
• Restaurants, hotels, bait shops, water sport rentals,
and marinas are most commonly found on the Bay.
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66. Businesses Cont…
• Businesses for the Bay (B4B) is a
voluntary team of forward-looking
businesses, industries, government
facilities, and other organizations within
the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
• More and more businesses are forming in
order to prevent pollution .
• Pollution Prevention is sweeping the nation,
sweeping up pollution by avoiding producing
it in the first place.
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68. Factories
• Smithfield Factories is one of
the largest industries
responsible for the pollution
of the Chesapeake Bay
• In August 1997, a federal
judge in Virginia fined the
Smithfield pig processing
plant $12.6 million for the
plant's chronic dumping of
slaughterhouse wastes into
the Pagan River, a tributary of
the James River and
Chesapeake Bay.
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71. Early Chesapeake Bay Shipping
• Steamboat (1813) • Colonial
American
fighting ships
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72. Commercial Shipping
• Container ships leave and enter ports in
Hampton,
Portsmouth, Newport News and Norfolk daily.
• Hampton Roads ranks 2nd in U.S. for metric tons
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73. Fishing Boats
Fishing and the
harvesting of
marine
crustaceans is a
major source of
food and revenue
for the local
economy.
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74. Oysters
• The Chesapeake Bay harvests an
annual production of millions of
bushels of oysters, crabs, clams, eels,
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striped bass, and flounder. 74
75. Blue Crab
• Growing commercial, industrial,
recreational, and urban activities
continue to threaten the Chesapeake
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Bay and its living resources. 75
78. Home Port for the US Navy
•The headquarters for the US Atlantic fleet is at Naval
Station Norfolk, VA
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79. Home Port for the US Navy
• Thousands of military
personnel call Hampton
Roads on the
Chesapeake Bay their
“Home Port.”
• The military increases
the economy of
Hampton Roads by
billions of dollars each
year.
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80. Hover Craft
• Hover Craft are extensively used in Europe, but
are not widely used by the US military.
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81. US Coast Guard
• The US Coast Guard protects our
coastal and inland waters from
smugglers and drug dealers.
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83. Military Bases
• Naval Amphibious Base (Little Creek) is the
major operating base for the US Atlantic Fleet,
and the largest of it’s kind in the world.
• Fort Story is where the Cape Henry lighthouse
is and where settlers first landed.
• Langley Air Force Base is the oldest Air force
base that has remained continuously active.
• Oceana Naval Air Station was carved out of
swampland and has grown 16 times larger.
• Dam Neck Base is directly on the beach and
has the most military beach access.
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87. POLLUTION
• The biggest problem is nutrient pollution.
• Nutrient pollution is caused by excess nutrients,
nitrogen, and phosphorus within the plants and
bay. SAV’s are destroyed.
• Other causes consist of toxic chemicals, air
pollution, landscape changes, sedimentation,
and the over-harvesting of living resources.
• As the use of the land has changed and the
watershed's population has grown, the amount
of nutrients entering the Bay's water has
increased tremendously.
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88. Massive Fish Kills
• Toxic chemicals are the
chemical poisons that
harm plants, animals, fish
and humans.
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89. RESTORATION
• The Chesapeake Bay Program is a partnership
that is working to restore as well as protect the
Bay and resources.
• Sound Land Use is enhancing, or even
maintaining, the quality of the Bay while
helping growth.
• Different group efforts are working to restore
water quality and habitats.
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Chesapeake
Alliance, and the Virginia Aquarium.
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90. WATER QUALITY ACTS
• IN THE MID-20TH CENTURY, THE CHESAPEAKE
BAY’S WATER QUALITY STARTED
DECLINING
• ALSO, DISEASES WERE KILLING OYSTERS IN
THE BAY
• IN THE 1970’S, CONGRESS PASSED THE
CLEAN AIR ACT AND THE CLEAN WATER
ACT
• CITIZENS FORMED WATERSHED GROUPS
AND OFFICIALS BANNED PESTICIDES AND
TOXIC CHEMICALS
• IN 1983, THE BAY RESTORATION ACT
REPLACED THE CHESAPEAKE BAY
AGREEMENT .
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