Microplastics collected from the Patapso River by Lance Yonkos, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. Photo credit: Chesapeake Bay Program
Small Particles, Big Problems? Into Focus
Warning : Undefined array key "extra" in
/home/chesapeakequarterly/chesapeakequarterly/issues/index2.php on line
84
The Evolution of Plastic
Warning : Undefined array key "extra" in
/home/chesapeakequarterly/chesapeakequarterly/issues/index2.php on line
84
2020 Reader Survey
Warning : Undefined array key "extra" in
/home/chesapeakequarterly/chesapeakequarterly/issues/index2.php on line
84
A small groundwater-fed stream runs by a road just north of Gambrill State Park in Frederick, Maryland. Photo credit: Nicole Lehming / MDSG
Ground Game
Warning : Undefined array key "extra" in
/home/chesapeakequarterly/chesapeakequarterly/issues/index2.php on line
84
Detecting Chemical Clues
Warning : Undefined array key "extra" in
/home/chesapeakequarterly/chesapeakequarterly/issues/index2.php on line
84
Maryland’s Geologic Regions
Warning : Undefined array key "extra" in
/home/chesapeakequarterly/chesapeakequarterly/issues/index2.php on line
84
Mapping the Groundwater
Warning : Undefined array key "extra" in
/home/chesapeakequarterly/chesapeakequarterly/issues/index2.php on line
84
Best Practices
Warning : Undefined array key "extra" in
/home/chesapeakequarterly/chesapeakequarterly/issues/index2.php on line
84
“He’s Just a Dynamo”
Warning : Undefined array key "extra" in
/home/chesapeakequarterly/chesapeakequarterly/issues/index2.php on line
84
Keeping Freshwater Fresh
Warning : Undefined array key "extra" in
/home/chesapeakequarterly/chesapeakequarterly/issues/index2.php on line
84
A Closer Look at Our Water
Cover photo: A child explores Sinepuxent Bay
on Assateague Island. PHOTO, LISA TOSSEY
Handling a Changing Seafood Economy
Cover photo: Crab pickers at Lindy’s Seafood
in
Woolford, Maryland. PHOTO, JAY FLEMING
The Measure of a Marsh
Cover photo: Marshes at Blackwater
National Wildlife Refuge have converted
to open water, eroding protection for
surrounding communities and important
animal habitat. Photograph, Nicole Lehming / MDSG
Up in the Headwaters
Cover photo: A stream flows through Green
Ridge State Forest on its way to the Chesapeake 200 miles downstream. Photograph,
Nicole Lehming
Aquaculture Swims Ahead
Cover photo: Bronzini broodstock, also known
as European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), swim in a tank at IMET’s Baltimore lab.
Photograph, David Harp
40 Years on the Bay
40th Anniversary
Issue
40 Years of . . .
Cover photo: A wooden boat finds a final
resting place in a wetlands along a Virginia creek. Photograph, Jay Fleming
The Eaters and the Eaten
Cover photo: Striped bass like this one can
grow to 60 pounds or more, making them among the top predators in the Chesapeake Bay
and one of its most iconic fisheries. New scientific research has examined what
stripers and other predators eat and how much — knowledge that may assist
fisheries managers to ensure that harvests remain sustainable. Photograph, David
Harp
Mid-Term Exams for the Bay Cleanup
Cover photo: Looking north along Maryland's
Kent Island toward the Bay Bridge, you can see a diversity of land uses. Excess
nutrients and sediment washing off the Chesapeake Bay's watershed are causing harm
to the estuary's ecosystem. Scientists are using computer simulations to quantify
these causes and effects to help leaders find the right solutions. Photograph, David
Harp.
Visions of the Bay
Cover photo: This image of skipjacks in
winter rafted together in Annapolis Harbor became a famous and popular poster for
Marion E. Warren.
Churches & the Chesapeake: Can
Religion Save the Bay?
Cover photo: This image shows two pillars of
Eastern Shore life: a deadrise workboat and a Methodist church. The workboat is the
Velma Dawn, docked on Parson's Creek just south of the Little Choptank River. The
church has been known as Madison United Methodist and Joppa Methodist. Photograph:
Michael W. Fincham
Watching the Bay & Beyond
Cover photo: This photograph was taken on
the day this buoy was deployed for the Maryland Artifical Reef Initiative. Part of
the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS), the buoy collects data for
boaters, students, and scientists. Photograph, Michael Eversmier for the Maryland
Artificial Reef Initiative
Going Green to Manage Urban
Stormwater
Cover photo: A John Hill crouches over a
green roof overlooking the U.S. Capitol. His organization, the United Methodist
General Board of Church and Society, installed the 6,800-square-foot vegetated roof
in 2014 to reduce stormwater runoff and cut costs for air conditioning. Photograph,
Skip Brown
Growing Oyster Farms
Cover photo: A worker with the Hooper Island
Oyster Aquaculture Company checks on an oyster held during its growout phase in an
underwater cage. The state of Maryland has been giving oyster aquaculture a hand up,
hoping to create new businesses and new jobs in the state's Tidewater region.
Photograph, Jay Fleming
Life in the Ocean Next Door
Cover photo: Did you know that Maryland's
coastal ocean is home to colorful corals, like this bubblegum coral? They live in
deep, dark submarine canyons more than 50 miles off the coast. Photograph, NOAA
Office on Ocean Exploration and Research Photograph
Where Science Meets Policy
Cover photo: Reading the tale of the tape
measure are Maryland politicians Bernie Fowler, a former state senator, and Steny
Hoyer, current U.S. congressman. The water clarity mark for June 14 at the 2015
Patuxent River Wade-In measured 44.5 inches of light penetration. The Wade-In, which
focuses attention on the health of the river, has been conducted yearly since 1988.
Photograph, Michael W. Fincham
Stream Restoration & a Healthier
Bay
Cover photo: Watts Branch, a tributary of
the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. In 2011, work was completed to install a
series of pools and add rock structures to slow the flow of water. Photograph, David
Harp
Teaching Marine Science on the Bay
Cover photo: Student fellows on their
orientation cruise for Maryland Sea Grant’s Research Experiences for Under¬graduates
program in summer 2013 pore over a bucket filled with oysters: (from left to right)
Arthur Williams, Zachary Watkins, Jenessa Duncombe, Nicholas Taylor, Christine
Schalkoff. Photograph, Sandy Rodgers
Come High Water — Sea Level Rise and Chesapeake Bay
Cover photo: This house on Holland Island in
the Chesapeake Bay stood for'more than a century. But the estuary's water level
rose, the island eroded, and the inhabitants left. In 2010, the house — the
last one left on the island — was swept into the Bay by encroaching waves.
Photograph, David Harp
The Rising: Why Sea Level Is Increasing
The Costs: Effects on People and the Land
The Response: How People Are Adapting
Could Farmers Help Lower Costs for Bay
Cleanup?
Cover photo: Contour plantings like those on
this farm in Frederick County, Maryland, help reduce runoff. Photograph, David Harp
Digging into the Bay's Ancient Past
Cover photo: On board the
RV Marion Dufresne, a French research
vessel, a deck worker gets ready to drop the giant Calypso corer, a sampling device
that can drive deep into the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay. Photograph, Jenney Hall
An Island Rises . . . Again
Cover photo: A 2012 aerial shot of the
reconstructed Poplar Island in the Chesapeake Bay shows the island's perimeter,
which consists of boulders piled 10 feet high. A network of dikes separates marsh
sections or "cells." Two natural islands, Jefferson and Coaches, lie to
the right of Poplar. Photograph, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
A Diverse Bay Watershed
Cover photo: Spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum ), including this one
lying on a log near Ithaca, New York, are common across the eastern United States,
including in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Photograph, John Cancalosi.
The Ups and Downs of Bay Stripers
Cover photo: Billy Callaway (at the tiller,
standing behind one of his workers) is the third generation of his family to fish
for striped bass out of pound nets in the Chesapeake and its tributaries.
Photograph, David Harp.
Is the Bay Recovery Looking Up?
Cover photo: An underwater fisheye-lens shot
gives a dramatic view of bay grasses and a fisherman in the Susquehanna Flats. In
recent years underwater grassbeds have suddenly expanded across the Flats, the
broad, shoal-like shallows at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. Grass species
returning to the Flats include redhead grass, coontail, watermilfoil, water
stargrass, and wild celery. Photograph, Octavio Aburto.
A Model Cleanup for the Bay
Cover photo: Full of twists and turns that
stand out in this satellite image, the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed make up a
grand and complex ecosystem. Scientists in the region are working to represent that
entire environment using computer simulations, efforts that are guiding a new push
to clean up the Bay. Photograph, NASA Scientific Visualization Studio.
Tracking the Blue Crab Comeback
35th Anniversary
Issue
Cover photo: Blue crabs big enough for the
"basket trade." These crabs can be sold for steaming and eating at
summertime crab feasts. You can tell these are female crabs: they "paint their
nails red." Photograph by Michael W. Fincham.
Acid Test for the Great Shellfish
Bay?
Cover photo: Did Algonquin tribes call the
Chesapeake a "great shellfish bay?" Scholars disagree on the origins of the Bay's
name, but scientists agree that the waters of the Chesapeake were once the greatest
oyster grounds in the world. A new generation of oyster farmers could face a new
challenge if acid levels rise in the estuary. Photograph by Michael W. Fincham.
Dams, Sediment & the Bay
Cover photo: The Conowingo Dam opened its
gates to alleviate flooding on September 9, 2011, as Tropical Storm Lee swept
through the area. Photograph by Patrick Semansky, Associated Press.
Menhaden: A Test Case for New
Fisheries Management
Cover photo: More pounds of menhaden are
landed each year than any other fish in the Chesapeake. The fish is valuable not
only commercially but for the ecosystem — it provides food that sustains
striped bass and ospreys and many other predatory fish and birds. With menhaden
stocks at their lowest point in half a century, is it time to try a different kind
of management?
The Bays Beneath the Bay
Cover photo: The Chesapeake Bay Bridge, seen
from the eastern side, was designed with a high suspension span in the center to
allow large ships to pass through on their way to and from Baltimore. The deepest
waters under the bridge are not found under the high center span, but under the
smaller span near the Eastern Shore. Buried beneath the eastern side of the Bay is
the 18,000-year-old paleochannel of the Susquehanna River. Photograph, Michael W.
Fincham.
Ready for Rising Waters?
Cover photo: In the low-lying area of
Maryland's Eastern Shore, houses on Hooper's Island, are especially vulnerable to
rising sea levels. After heavy rains and higher than average tides, water can pool
in front yards and make impassable the one road that bisects this narrow sliver of
land. Photograph, Erica Goldman.
Restoring the Bay One River at a
Time
This Issue's Video:
Cover photo: Thick and murky, the headwaters
of the Corsica River drain nutrient-laden water dowstream to the mainstem Bay.
Suspended sediment clouds the water along with single-celled algae thriving on a
feast of excess nitrogen. Photograph, Erica Goldman.
A Future for Oyster Farming?
Cover photo: Bubba Parker works his way down
a line of oyster floats at the Choptank Oyster Farm. Turning the floats helps burn
off the algal biofouling that builds up on the underside. Photograph, Michael W.
Fincham.
Of Marsh & Mud on the Anacostia
Cover photo: Marsh and mudflat intermingle at
Kingman Marsh on the Anacostia River. Heart-shaped spadderdock (foreground) thrives,
one of the few species not palatable to hungry resident geese. Photograph, Erica
Goldman.
Can Trees Save the Bay?
Cover photo: Trees stretch toward western
Maryland on a bright October morning. It's in the Bay watershed's western reaches
that most big stands of forest remain. edge was impressive. Though early forest.
Photograph, Jack Greer.
Keeping Swimmers Safe
Cover photo: Rescue boards in hand, rookie
lifeguards hit the beach at Ocean City, Maryland. Their final training exercise
includes using these surfer-style boards, often the fastest way to reach a swimmer
caught in a rip current. Photograph, Michael W. Fincham.
Blocking Species Invasions in the
Bay
Cover photo: Dark sentinel on the Baltimore
waterfront, the MV Cape Washingtonkeeps watch after its return from the war in Iraq.
While it waits in ready reserve, the ship serves as a maritime test facility,
helping to defend against invasive species transported in ballast water. Photograph,
Jessica Smits.
Algae to Biofuels for a Healthier
Bay
Cover photo: Like a conveyor belt for
nutrient removal, this Algal Turf Scrubber uses mats of algae to take up nitrogen
and phosphorus. Could devices like this help clean Susquehanna River water before it
reaches the Chesapeake Bay? Photograph, Erica Goldman.
Terrapins: The Fall & Rise
Cover photo: The diamondback terrapin is
known as the mascot of the University of Maryland College Park and the official
state reptile. This particular diamondback is known as Patsy, and she was rescued by
Marguerite Whilden of the TerrapinInstitute and Research Consortium. Photograph,
John Consoli.
Looking for Light
Cover photo: Light bathes an oyster bar, with
a little help from professional photographers. Veteran underwater cinematographer
Nick Caloyianis (pictured here, with light), carefully set up this shot of a
restored oyster reef, built on rubble from the Wilson Bridge. Behind him lies the
unlit gloom of the Chesapeake, which grows murkier every year. Photograph, Michael
Eversmier, Aqua Ventures, Inc.
Renewing an Urban Watershed
Cover photo: Green returns to Fulton Street.
For a long time local residents fought to bring back a median originally designed in
the early 1900s by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., son of the famed landscape architect
who created New York's Central Park. The historic median disappeared in 1951 with
the widening of Route 1, a north-south trucking route. With truck traffic drawn to
bigger highways and after 12 years of community pressure, the city restored a
1.5-mile-long tree-lined median to this West Baltimore neighborhood. Photograph,
Skip Brown.
Seafood & the Bay
This Issue's Video:
Cover photo: Oysters come streaming into
Harris Seafood from the Chesapeake but also from the Carolinas, the Gulf, and New
England. Local processors depend on product from waters far away and workers from
other countries - especially guest workers from Mexico - to keep afloat. Photograph,
Skip Brown.
The Bay around Us
Special 30th
Anniversary Issue
Cover photo: Autumn sunset at the mouth of
the West River. Photograph, Sandy Rodgers.
Mussel Power — Can It Help Clean
The Bay?
This Issue's Videos:
Cover photo: Clinging to any free surface
they could find, dark false mussels encrusted ropes like this one in the summer of
2004, when a bivalve explosion took the Magothy, South, and Severn rivers by storm.
Photograph, Peter Bergstrom.
Whatever Happened to Pfiesteria ?
This Issue's Videos:
Cover photo: A hint of irony graces this
trailered boat in an Eastern Shore fishing community.
The Pfiesteria
crisis of 1997 put watermen ouf of work and led to river closures, public panic, and
a loss of $40 million in seafood sales in Maryland. Photograph, Michael W. Fincham.
Counting Blue Crabs in Winter
Cover photo: Dredging crabs is winter work
for mate Eddie Weber, aboard the
Mydra Ann, as watermen help scientists
survey blue crabs in the Chesapeake. Photograph, Skip Brown.
Global Warming and the Bay
Cover photo: As water temperatures rise and
precipitation patterns change in a warming atmosphere,marshes like this one in the
Chesapeake Bay will feel the effects. Photograph, Skip Brown.
The MSX Files — Unmasking an
Oyster Killer
Gene
Burreson and Nancy Stokes read an X-ray film showing the sequence of a key section
of the DNA of MSX, the parasite that devastated oyster populations in both Delaware
and Chesapeake bays. Though X-ray films have now given way to computer screens, the
earlier technique provided a key to finally figuring out the probable origins of the
MSX parasite. Photograph, Michael W. Fincham.
Lessons Aquatic Microbes Can Teach
Denizens of a world beyond human perception, bacteria in aquatic environments can
perform complex ecological feats. (Top right)
Sacchariphagus degradans 2-40, Photograph,
Ronald Weiner; (middle)
Silicibacter TM1040, Photograph © Dennis
Kunkel Microscopy, Inc; (bottom)
Dehalococcoides ethenogenes , Photograph,
Stephen Zinder.
The Storm Over Drains
Cover photo: Corralling the rain, a new
storm drain sends fine silt towards Beards Creek. Construction recasts the region's
natural hydrology. Photograph, Jack Greer.
Can Oysters Thrive Again?
Modelers Confront the Bay's
Complexity
Cover photo: Like glittering gems, oyster
larvae recall a time when watermen dubbed abundant Chesapeake Bay oysters "white
gold." Invisible to the naked eye, these larvae of the native oyster,
Crassostrea virginica, use tiny hairlike
cilia to swim in search of a place to settle. Photograph, Maryland Sea Grant
Extension.
Chesapeake Passage
This Issue's Videos:
Cover photo: Pride of the
Wallenius-Wilhelmsen Line of Norway, the 66,000-ton giant
Taiko heads up the Chesapeake in early May.
Photograph by Michael W. Fincham.
2005
Cover photo: Like many other Eastern Shore
farmlands, this one lies next to a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay and has a buffer
of grasses to slow runoff of sediment and nutrients. Photograph, Skip Brown.
The Fishman Cometh
This Issue's Videos:
Cover photo: Adam Frederick carries living
cargo into the classrooms of Maryland high schools. Photograph, Michael W. Fincham.
On the Road to Restoration?
This Issue's Videos:
Cover photo: Wetlands are major buffers
filtering out large quantities of sediment, pollutants and nutrients before they
reach streams, rivers and bays. Photograph, Skip Brown.
Seeing The Big Picture —
Monitoring the Bay from the Air
Cover photo: A summer day from 500 feet,
looking north across Kent Island toward the Bay Bridge. Photograph, Jack Greer.
Oceanographers on the Bay
This Issue's Videos:
Cover photo: Bill Boicourt, in front of the
R.V. Cape Henlopen , before a research
cruise. Photograph, Michael W. Fincham.
Managing Fisheries for the Future
Cover photo: Bycatch - like this basket of
croakers on a crabbing boat - provides one example of how each fishery involves more
than a single species. Photograph, Skip Brown.
Following Those Who Follow the Water
This Issue's Videos:
Cover photo: Getting ready for the start of
crabbing season, watermen Roy Ford and son Ryan stand in the doorway of the shanty
where they shed soft crabs. Photograph, Skip Brown.
The Anacostia: Restoring a Ruined
River
This Issue's Videos:
Skipjacks for the 21st Century
This Issue's Videos:
A New Oyster for the Bay?
Digging up the Past: Paleoecology and
the Bay
Our Changing Vision of the
Chesapeake