Home to more than 18 million people and 3,600 species of plants and animals, the Chesapeake Bay watershed is truly an extraordinary place. The Chesapeake Bay watershed, home to more than 18 million people and 3,600 species of plants and animals, is truly an extraordinary place. The bay's watershed, which spans six states and the District of Columbia, never ceases to amaze with its rich history, vital economic importance and astounding beauty. The following are just a sample of some of the impressive facts and figures about our wonderful watershed.
The bay contains about 18 trillion gallons of water. That amount of water would fill more than fifty billion bathtubs to the brim. Only about half of the water in the bay comes from the ocean. The rest comes from the 64,000 square mile watershed, which extends approximately 524 miles from Cooperstown, New York, to Norfolk, Va.
Approximately 51 billion gallons of water enter the bay each day from the 100,000 streams, streams and rivers that feed it. The bay itself is approximately 200 miles long and extends from Havre de Grace, Maryland, to Virginia Beach, Virginia. Individual, population and ecosystem effects of hypoxia in a dominant benthic bivalve in Chesapeake Bay. Response of a suspension-eating benthic animal (Crassostrea virginica Gmelin) to three centuries of eutrophication anthropogenic in Chesapeake Bay.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization under Section 501 (c) (of the Internal Revenue Code). Other popular recreational fisheries in Chesapeake Bay include tarragon, cobia, croaker and northern reindeer, winter flounder, and summer flounder. Chesapeake Bay was formed about 10,000 years ago when glaciers melted and flooded the Susquehanna River Valley. I planned to spend my days sailing, eating as many blue crabs from Chesapeake Bay as possible and studying a little about the inhabitants of the East Coast.
The European colonists of Chesapeake Bay in the late 17th and early 18th centuries brought industrial agricultural techniques with them. Researchers are working in Chesapeake Bay to gather information on water quality, the abundance of plants and animals, coastal erosion, tides, waves and the proliferation of harmful algae. The waters of Chesapeake Bay are considered to be one of the most important shark breeding areas on the East Coast. In the 1970s, there were only 60 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the entire Chesapeake Bay region.
The Chesapeake Bay watershed extends approximately 524 miles from Cooperstown, New York, to Norfolk, Virginia. Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia adopted the WQS for several tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay in the mid-2000s, referring to EPA criteria documents, as well as their own comprehensive data collection and modeling initiatives. The Chesapeake Bay watershed has been heavily affected by natural forces such as erosion, tides and a history of hurricanes and other storms.