December 2016 • Volume 15, Number 4
Choptank Oyster Dredgers. Photograph, A. Aubrey Bodine, copyright  Jennifer B. Bodine
Photograph, A. Aubrey Bodine © Jennifer B. Bodine
How do we see the Chesapeake Bay? If we don't boat or fish on it, if we don't live along its shores or work on its waters, we usually see the estuary as we drive across the Bay Bridge, enjoying a panoramic view across the water. Perhaps we glimpse a tanker or coal ship sitting at anchor. Perhaps we spot a cargo ship standing against the horizon, its decks stacked with containers. We can see the Bay through the work of great photographers. They take us places: to winter wetlands where wildfowl gather at dawn or dusk, to workboats where watermen are hauling oysters or crabs or striped bass out of dredges and tongs and pots and traps and half a dozen different kinds of netting. And they give us more than a glimpse. Their images educate us. When we see the beauty and drama of our Bay and the ways men and women and birds and fish and water and weather all interact — we understand something vital about our connection with this place. And we feel the importance of preserving it. That's why Maryland Sea Grant, a science program founded 40 years ago, has from the start featured great photography in our publications and films.   more . . .
Study in Motion. Photograph, A. Aubrey Bodine, copyright  Jennifer B. Bodine
An oyster buyer records a day's catch. Photograph courtesy of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
On marshy, isolated Smith Island, a crabber waits for the first peeler. Photograph courtesy of Mame Warren
A blood moon rises over a waterman’s home and workboat on Smith Island. Photograph courtesy of David Harp
Nippering for oysters.  Photograph courtesy of Jay Fleming
A marsh along the Chesapeake Bay shore
Walter Boynton, Photograph courtesy of David Harp
Walter Boynton was awarded the Mathias Medal on December 2 to recognize his groundbreaking research showing that excess nutrients degraded the Chesapeake Bay’s water quality and habitats. The medal is given jointly by Maryland Sea Grant, Virginia Sea Grant, and the Chesapeake Research Consortium to recognize outstanding researchers whose work informed environmental policy to improve the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Boynton is only the seventh recipient of the Mathias Medal since it was established in 1989.   more . . 
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