1. What we should take away from the Chesapeake Bay!
Summing it Up
What we
should take away from the Chesapeake Bay!

2. Algal Bloom What causes it? What puts nutrients into the water?
Nutrient Levels are too high in the water
What puts nutrients into the water?
Pollution, fertilizers, manure, factories, sewage
Why is too much algae a bad thing?
When algae dies, it becomes detritus
Microorganisms then feed on the detritus material and use up a lot of the oxygen in the water
Less oxygen, kills fish and other organisms in water

3. Oysters Oysters clean the water
Oysters feed on microorganism, algae, and extra nutrients
Humans came along and decided to use the oysters for our needs
Reduction in oysters means increase in microorganisms
More microbes, less oxygen in water, fish die

4. Why does the Chesapeake Bay matter?
We learn from our mistakes!
If we know what humans have done to negatively impact the ecosystem in the past, we could avoid doing that in the future.

5. Human Impact
Fewer oysters and predatory fish because humans are fishing them for consumption
More algae growth causes sea-floor plants to die because algae blocks sunlight from reaching plants below
People have overharvested most of the species in the Chesapeake Bay (including sharks, whales, alligators, fish, and oysters)

6. Group Chart
When humans began large-scale fishing in the Bay, the ecosystem’s food web was dramatically changed.
Nutrient levels have increased dramatically in the Bay in the last 300 years.
As the oyster population decreased, the floating algae population increased.
Humans began impacting the Bay even before oyster harvesting became popular.