6/22/20151 By Phyllis Butler

6/22/20152Navigation General facts General facts History Fauna Flora Recreation Industry Shipping The Military The Military Environment

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4 The Chesapeake Bay A small part of the Universe A Big part of our Lives

6/22/20155 How Big Is the Chesapeake Bay? miles North to South miles North to South Shoreline is 4,600 miles longShoreline is 4,600 miles long Average depth is 30 feetAverage depth is 30 feet The Chesapeake bay is the nations largest estuaryThe Chesapeake bay is the nations largest estuary 80 % water from Susquehanna, Potomac, James rivers80 % water from Susquehanna, Potomac, James rivers The Chesapeake bay runs from Maryland to VirginiaThe Chesapeake bay runs from Maryland to Virginia Bordering states are VA and MDBordering states are VA and MD Watershed is VA, MD, DE, PA, and WVWatershed is VA, MD, DE, PA, and WV Western shore has the largest riversWestern shore has the largest rivers 498,000 acres of wetlands498,000 acres of wetlands

6/22/20156SALINITY 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

6/22/20157WETLANDS 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 minerals

6/22/20158 Shipping artery for Norfolk & Baltimore Norfolk & Baltimore Largest estuary in the U.S. One of the most diverse estuaries diverse estuaries Stretches to the mouth of the Susquehanna of the SusquehannaRiver Threatened by environmental degradation caused by man induced pollution Highly valued for its sea life, waterfowl, sport sea life, waterfowl, sport fishing & rec boating CHESAPEAKE BAY

6/22/20159 CHESAPEAKE BAY Average depth is 30 feet

6/22/ 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 RISE SEA LEVEL RISE

6/22/ 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.

6/22/ Expanding wetlands are claiming low-lying communities on Smith Island & Tangier Island. Extreme high tide at Hoopers Island, Eastern Shore (1998)

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6/22/201514INDIANS 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

6/22/201515SETTLERS 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.

6/22/ 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 REGION FROM 13,000 TO 250,000 USING THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, AFRICAN AMERICANS CROSSED THE CHESAPEAKE BAY TO ESCAPE TO THE NORTH

6/22/ FAMOUS BATTLES DURING THE MID-1800’S THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION WAS AT THE CENTER OF THE CIVIL WAR BATTLE OF BRANANBURGH (937) BATTLE OF HASTINGS AND STANFORD BRIGE (1066) BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL IN JUNE 17, 1775 BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE ON OCTOBER 8, 1862

6/22/ Battle of Hampton Roads CSS Virginia Confederate (Ironclad warship) USS Monitor Union (Ironclad warship)

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6/22/ Loggerhead Sea Turtle

6/22/ Invertebrates The blue crab goes through many transformations in its 3 years. Jellyfish, horseshoe crabs, hermit crabs, moon snails, and whelks are also common invertebrates in the bay.

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6/22/201523Amphibians

6/22/201524Reptiles 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.

6/22/ Snapping TurtleSnapping Turtle SkinkSkink

6/22/201526Fish Breeding waters for many fish species. Parent fish spawn in the bay to protect their offspring from larger predators Mummichog Killifish Sheepshead Minnow

6/22/ 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. Their migration route takes them along the eastern shore of Hudson bay& James bay across central New York.

6/22/ MIGRATORY BIRDS OSPREY OSPREY Great Blue HeronGreat Blue Heron

6/22/ BIRD REFUGES Refuge provides habitat for migrating and wintering waterfowl. During the fall and winter months, Snow and Canada geese, tundra swans, and many duck species are abundant. Migrating songbirds and shorebirds arrive at the Refuge each spring.

6/22/ GEESE GEESE

6/22/201531Mammals 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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6/22/201534Algae 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.

6/22/201535Algae

6/22/ 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.

6/22/ Bald Cypress

6/22/ 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.

6/22/ Loblolly Pine

6/22/ American Holly American Holly is used as a popular holiday decoration. Bluebirds, and songbirds use holly for shelter and raising their young. Native Americans used the wood and berries for bartering and decorating.

6/22/ American Holly

6/22/ Bay Grasses In the shallow waters of the bay, many underwater grasses thrive. These grasses are also known as submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV, that grow completely underwater. SAV have additional support that causes easier exchange of gasses.

6/22/ 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.

6/22/ Bay Grasses

6/22/ Bay Grasses

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6/22/ 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. The favorite Chesapeake bay fish species include; rockfish, bluefish, drum, speckled trout, flounder, spot, and croaker.

6/22/ Sailing on the Bay The recreational use of the Bay bring millions of dollars to the local economy annually The recreational use of the Bay bring millions of dollars to the local economy annually

6/22/ Surfing Don’t you wish we had waves like this locally. Average wave height at Virginia Beach, VA is about 3 feet.

6/22/201550HUNTING The Chesapeake bay is the famous hunting ground. Market and waterfowl hunting is a thing of the past.

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6/22/ Most biologically productive estuary in North America. 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.

6/22/201553Businesses 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. Businesses for the Bay is a voluntary team of enterprises within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. More and more businesses are forming in order to prevent pollution.

6/22/ Bay-side Businesses

6/22/201555Factories 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.

6/22/ F a c t o r i e s…

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6/22/ Early Chesapeake Bay Shipping Steamboat (1813) Colonial American fighting ships

6/22/ 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 of exports.

6/22/ Fishing Boats Fishing and the harvesting of marine crustaceans is a major source of food and revenue for the local economy

6/22/ Oysters The Chesapeake Bay harvests an annual production of millions of bushels of oysters, crabs, clams, eels, striped bass, and flounder

6/22/ Blue Crab Growing commercial, industrial, recreational, and urban activities continue to threaten the Chesapeake Bay and its living resources.

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6/22/ CONSTANT WEATHER SURVEILLANCE

6/22/ Home Port for the US Navy The headquarters for the US Atlantic fleet is at Naval Station Norfolk, VA

6/22/ Home Port for the US Navy Thousand 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.

6/22/ Hover Craft Hover Craft Hover Craft are extensively used in Europe, but are not widely used by the US military. Hover Craft are extensively used in Europe, but are not widely used by the US military.

6/22/ US Coast Guard The US Coast Guard protects our coastal and inland waters from smugglers and drug dealers The US Coast Guard protects our coastal and inland waters from smugglers and drug dealers

6/22/ AVIATION FORECASTING 11,5698 Aviation Weather Briefs

6/22/ 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.

6/22/ Proud Stripes and Stars

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6/22/ Keep the beaches clean!

6/22/ Waste From Factories

6/22/201575POLLUTION The biggest problem is nutrient pollution. Nutrient pollution is caused by excess nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus. SAV’s are destroyed. Toxic chemicals, air pollution, sedimentation, and the over-harvesting of living resources can pollute. Toxic chemicals, air pollution, sedimentation, and the over-harvesting of living resources can pollute.

6/22/ Massive Fish Kills Toxic chemicals are the chemical poisons that harm plants, animals, fish and humans.

6/22/201577RESTORATION The Chesapeake Bay Program is a partnership that is working to restore as well as protect the Bay and resources. Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Chesapeake Alliance, and the Virginia Aquarium are dedicated to preserving the Bay.

6/22/ WATER QUALITY ACTS IN THE 20 TH CENTURY, THE CHESAPEAKE BAY’S WATER QUALITY STARTED DECLINING and oysters were dying. 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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SAV 6/22/ S UBMERGED A QUATIC V EGETATION

SAV 6/22/201581

CAROLINA PARAKEET 6/22/ EXTINCT SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM

PASSENGER PIGEON 6/22/201583

“MARTHA” 6/22/ THE LAST PASSENGER PIGEON

AMERICAN BALD EAGLE 6/22/201585

MOTHER WITH JUVENILES 6/22/201586

OSPREY 6/22/201587

OSPREY FEEDING 6/22/201588

SHEEPSHEAD 6/22/201589

SHEEPSHEAD 6/22/201590

AMERICAN SHAD 6/22/201591

AMERICAN SHAD 6/22/201592

AMERICAN SHAD 6/22/201593

TERMS TO REMEMBER SOUNDBAYECOLOGYNUTRIENTSTURBIDITYBRACKISH NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTIONSAV 6/22/ BAY HARVEST VALUE JAMES RIVER CHOPTANK RIVER POTOMIC RIVER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER PROTECTIVE LAWS

6/22/ Created By Phyllis Butler

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