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The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off
the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Virginia and Maryland.
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The Chesapeake watershed states are: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
Virginia, West Virginia and Washington DC.
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Total shoreline for the Bay and its tributaries is 11,684 miles.
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The shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay itself is 5,600 miles long, if straightened
out.
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There are 48 rivers and more than 100 branches and tributaries flowing into
the Chesapeake; they're navigable for at least 1,750 miles.
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The Chesapeake Bay's watershed covers 64,299 miles
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The word "Chesepiooc" is an Algonquin word meaning "Great Shellfish Bay;"
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The Bay was created about 36 million years ago by the impact of a space meteor
in the Eocene period.
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The Chesapeake Bay impact crater, the largest structure of its kind in the
United States is the sixth-largest impact crater on Earth.
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The climate of the area surrounding the bay is primarily humid subtropical,
with hot, very humid summers and cold to mild winters.
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Captain John Smith and his shipmates discovered the bay in 1608. John Smith
wrote in his diary: "Heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place
for man's habitation ... truly a delightsome land."
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The Chesapeake Bay is famous for Oysters and Blue Claw Crabs
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The bay is quite shallow and the average depth is 30'. There's 700,000 acres,
where the depth is about 6 feet 7 inches.
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Because of the earth's rotation, water on the eastern shore of the Bay is
saltier than on the western shore.
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The Chesapeake Bay Bridge crosses the bay from the piedmont region in Maryland
to the eastern shore from Sandy Point to Kent Island
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The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel connects Norfolk, VA to Cape Charles, VA.
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At its widest point, the Chesapeake is almost 10 feet higher in the middle
than on either side because of the curvature of the earth.
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Baltimore sits at the top of the bay.
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Since the bay is an estuary, it has fresh water and brackish water due to
mixing with the Atlantic Ocean.
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The Chesapeake is home to America's only working sailboat fleet.
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The islands; Tangier Island, Virginia, Crisfield and Smith Island, Maryland
are situated in the middle of the Bay and are so close to sea level that
the dead are buried above ground.
