Bay Facts
The Bay is full of interesting facts and trivia related to its history, wildlife, geography and more.
Largest estuary in the United States
The Chesapeake Bay is an estuary: a body of water where fresh and salt water mix. It is the largest of more than 100 estuaries in the United States and third largest in the world.
Learn more80% 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.
The Chesapeake Bay's first inhabitants
The first inhabitants of the Chesapeake Bay region are referred to as Paleo-Indians. They came more than 10,000 years ago from other parts of North America, drawn in by the abundance of wildlife and waterways.
Learn more10,000 years old
The Chesapeake Bay was formed about 10,000 years ago when glaciers melted and flooded the Susquehanna River valley.
80,000 acres of underwater grasses
Nearly 80,000 acres of underwater grasses grow in the shallows of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Young and molting blue crabs rely on underwater grass beds for protection from predators.
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.
Formally recognized tribes in Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia has formally recognized 11 tribes. Among them, the Pamunkey tribe was the first Virginia tribe to be recognized by the federal government.
Learn moreHow we can fix water pollution
Eighty-six percent of watershed residents believe if people work together, water pollution can be fixed.
Longest river fully within Maryland
The 110-mile-long Patuxent River is the longest river to flow exclusively within the borders of Maryland.
21 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.
Litter bugs
Nine in ten watershed residents never toss food wrappers, cups or cigarette butts on the ground. Almost eight in ten watershed residents pick up litter when they see it.
18.5 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 more6,282,718 acres of greenspace
There are 6,282,718 acres of accessible green space within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Six states and the District of Columbia
The Chesapeake Bay watershed stretches approximately 524 miles from Cooperstown, New York, to Norfolk, Virginia. It includes parts of six states—Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia—and the entire District of Columbia.
12 species of shark
There are twelve known species of shark that have been sighted in the Chesapeake Bay, with only five considered a common occurrence—smooth dogfish, sand tiger shark, sandbar shark, spiny dogfish, and bull shark.
29 species of waterfowl
The Chesapeake region is home to at least 29 species of waterfowl.
Learn moreWhat 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.
Longest free flowing river in the Bay watershed
The 195-mile-long Rappahannock River is the longest free flowing river in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The 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.
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 more100,000 smaller tributaries
The Chesapeake Bay watershed has 150 major rivers and streams, but contains more than 100,000 smaller tributaries.
Scooping the poop
Half of pet owners always pick up after their pet, but one-third of pet owners seldom or never do so. Pet waste contains bacteria that can harm human health and contaminate the water we use for drinking, swimming and fishing.
Majority 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 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 more