Bay Facts
The Bay is full of interesting facts and trivia related to its history, wildlife, geography and more.
Reducing runoff
Fourteen percent of watershed residents use rain barrels to collect rainwater from their downspouts and keep runoff out of rivers and streams. While water collected in rain barrels is not safe to drink, it can be used to water plants or wash cars.
Learn moreWhat is a watershed?
A watershed is an area of land that drains into a particular river, lake, bay or other body of water.
Learn moreWhere does the Bay get its water?
The Bay receives about half its water volume from the Atlantic Ocean in the form of saltwater. The other half (freshwater) drains into the Bay from the enormous 64,000-square-mile watershed.
What is brackish water?
Most of the water in the Bay, including in the middle portion of the Bay and its tidal rivers, is brackish–a mixture of salty and fresh, with a salinity level of greater than 0.5 ppt but less than 25 ppt.
80% of the Bay's freshwater
Collectively, the Chesapeake’s three largest rivers—the Susquehanna, Potomac and James Rivers—provide more than 80% of the fresh water to the Bay.
60% of Chesapeake forests
Sixty percent of Chesapeake forests have been divided into disconnected fragments by roads, homes and other gaps that are too wide or dangerous for wildlife to cross.
Learn more18.5 million people
The Chesapeake Bay watershed is home to more than 18 and a half million people. Ten million of them live along or near the Bay’s shores. About 150,000 new people move into the Bay watershed each year.
Learn moreThe Powhatan tribes
There were many different tribes in the region before Europeans arrived, but the dominant group were Algonquian speakers known collectively as the Powhatan tribes.
35.5 million years
The formation of the Chesapeake Bay happened 35.5 million years ago when a meteor collided with Earth, forming a massive crater.
4-30 mile width
The Bay’s width ranges from four miles near Aberdeen, Maryland, to 30 miles near cape Charles, Virginia.
Bald eagle recovery in the Chesapeake
In the 1970’s, there were as few as 60 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the entire Bay region. Today, as much as 3,000 breeding pairs of bald eagles can be found.
Learn more26 different SAV species
The Chesapeake Bay is home to 26 different species of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV), including freshwater plants, estuarine plants, redhead grass, and marine species.
Chesapeake National Recreation Area
Legislation proposed by Maryland’s Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative John Sarbanes to incorporate the bay into the nation’s park system.
The Bay's largest tributary
The Susquehanna River is the Bay’s largest tributary, and contributes about half of the Bay’s freshwater (about 19 million gallons per minute).
1,300 access sites
There are more than 1,300 public access sites on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
Learn more21 feet deep
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.
First estuary targeted for restoration
The Chesapeake Bay was the first estuary in the nation to be targeted for restoration as an integrated watershed and ecosystem.
Learn moreVolunteering with environmental organizations
While one-third of watershed residents have volunteered their time or donated their money to a charitable organization, less than two in ten volunteers have done so for an environmental organization.
What is a shallop?
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.
9.6 million acres of land
Approximately 9.6 million acres of land in the Bay watershed have been permanently protected from development by Bay Program partners.
Learn moreMajority of striped bass spawn in the Bay
Seventy to ninety percent of all striped bass, known locally as rockfish, were spawned in the Bay.
Learn moreFirst recorded European to enter the Bay
In 1524, Italian Captain Giovanni da Verrazano became the first recorded European to enter the Chesapeake Bay.
87 species of waterbirds
During the winter, the Bay supports 87 species of waterbirds. Of these wintering waterbirds, 14 species rely on the Bay to serve as habitat for more than 10% of their continental populations.
84 degrees Fahrenheit
Water temperatures in the Bay fluctuate widely throughout the year, reaching as high as 84 degrees in summer.