Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
There are two things one should do related to The Chesapeake Bay: Visit the area and then read James Michener’s epic novel,Chesapeake; or read Chesapeake and then succumb to visiting the area. These can be done separately and individually of course, but the full Chesapeake experience is enhanced if one does both.
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean and is bordered by Maryland and Virginia. As a drainage, the bay exerts influence on more than 64,000 square miles and six states. More than one hundred fifty rivers and lesser waterways empty into the bay, including the Potomac and the Susquehanna Rivers.
The Chesapeake Bay is approximately two hundred miles (300 km) long, with its width ranging from from about three miles at one point to thirty miles at the mouth of the Potomac River. Total shoreline for the bay and its tributaries is 11,684 miles (18,804 km), and the surface area of the bay and its major tributaries is 4,479 square miles (11,601 km2). Average depth of the bay is 46 feet (14 m) and the maximum depth is 208 feet (63 m). The bay is bridged in Maryland from Sandy Point (near Annapolis) to Kent Point; and in Virginia it is spanned by a combination bridge and tunnel connecting Virginia Beach to Cape Charles.
The bay’s name comes from the Algonquian word, “Chesepiooc,” referring to a village at a big river. It is the seventh oldest surviving English place-name in the U.S. “The Chesapeake Bay” is the full and proper name, almost always preceded by the article, “the” in print usage.
Parts of the bay are lined by cliffs composed of deposits from receding waters millions of years ago. These cliffs, in Calvert County, Maryland, and known as Calvert Cliffs, hold a reputation as a site for fossils, especialy shark teeth, which are commonly found washed up on the beaches next to the cliffs
Much of the bay is quite shallow. At the point where the Susquehanna River flows into it, the average depth is 30 feet (9 m). On average, the depth of the bay is 21 feet (7 meters). The climate of the area surrounding the bay is primarily marked by hot, very humid summers and cold to mild winters. It is exceedingly rare for the surface of the bay to freeze in winter, as happened most recently in the winter of 1976-1977.
The bay is mostly known for its great seafood production, especially blue crabs and oysters, but the surrounding area is home to numerous fauna that either migrate to the bay at some point during the year or live there year round. There are over three hundred species of fish, including Rockfish and Striped bass, and numerous shellfish and crab species. The bay also houses various reptiles, along with birds like the American Osprey and the Bald Eagle. And of course it’s a temporary stopover for geese on the move from the far north, Blue, Snow and Canadas.
If I may wax personal for a moment, I’m a hunter, once was anyhow, and much of my Chesapeake experience has been sitting in goose blinds on Maryland’s eastern shore of The Chesapeake Bay. There is little outdoor adventure that can compare with the Chesapeake when it comes to geese. Michener captured the spell of the geese in the novel, and to have written that novel, he had to have experienced the awesome flights over The Chesapeake Bay. If I were to build a permanent waterfowl blind on The Chesapeake Bay, I’d outfit it with a pew for a bench, for at no time do I feel more in church than when the geese fly.
The Chesapeake Bay is a main feature for tourists who visit Maryland and Virginia each year. Fishing, crabbing, swimming, boating, and sailing are extremely popular activities enjoyed on the waters of The Chesapeake Bay.
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