Bay Facts

A few deep troughs run along much of the Bay’s length and are believed to be remnants of the ancient Susquehanna River.

There were many different tribes in the region before Europeans arrived, but the dominant group were Algonquian speakers known collectively as the Powhatan tribes.

Water temperatures in the Bay fluctuate widely throughout the year, dropping as low as 34 degrees in winter.

At 4,863 feet above sea level, Spruce Knob is the highest point in the Chesapeake watershed.

More than 1,800 vessels have met their end in Bay waters, lying broken and battered on the Bay's floor.

The Chesapeake Bay holds more than 18 trillion gallons of water.

Captain John Smith and his men sailed the Chesapeake Bay in a modest wooden boat called a shallop–an open wooden workboat such as a barge, dory, or rowboat that was small enough to row but also had one or two sails.

The Susquehanna River watershed includes nearly 50 thousand miles of rivers, streams and creeks.

The 195-mile-long Rappahannock River is the longest free flowing river in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The area of the watershed is about 64,000 square miles.

Forty-six percent of watershed residents never use toxic pesticides in or around their homes. You can evaluate a pesticide’s toxicity to judge the risk in using it, or make your own non-toxic pesticide with garlic, vinegar, cooking oil and other common household items.

The Bay is surprisingly shallow. Its average depth, including all tidal tributaries, is about 21 feet. A person who is six feet tall could wade through more than 700,000 acres of the Bay and never get his or her hat wet.

The Susquehanna River is the Bay’s largest tributary, and contributes about half of the Bay’s freshwater (about 19 million gallons per minute).

There are nearly 1,800 local governments in the Bay watershed, including towns, cities, counties and townships.

The Bay itself is about 200 miles long, stretching from Havre de Grace, Maryland, to Virginia Beach, Virginia.