According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the current year (measured from October 1, 2019—September 30, 2020) has been normal , with flows entering the Bay at an average of 77,665 cubic feet per second, which is slightly below the long-term average of 79,000 cubic feet per second.
Why is Chesapeake Bay dying?
There are three major contributors to the poor health of our streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay— nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment . High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus fuel unnaturally high levels of algae growth in the water, blocking sunlight from reaching underwater grasses that serve as food and habitat.
How lifeless is the Chesapeake Bay?
Scientists expect that this year’s mid-summer Chesapeake Bay hypoxic low-oxygen zone or “dead zone” – an area of low to no oxygen that can kill fish and aquatic life – will be approximately 1.58 cubic miles , about the volume of 2.3 million Olympic-size swimming pools.
When did the Chesapeake Bay become a dead zone?
The first dead zone in Chesapeake Bay was reported in the 1930s . Looking further back, geologic evidence shows that low-oxygen “dead zones” were not a naturally recurring event in most estuarine ecosystems, including Chesapeake Bay.
Is the Chesapeake Bay a dead zone?
In 2020, the zone was smaller than 80% of those monitored since surveying began in 1985. The summertime dead zone that occurs in the Chesapeake Bay is an area of very low-oxygen water that stresses fish, crabs and shellfish. ... The area is dubbed a “ dead zone” because of the lack of life found within it .
How many dead zones exist?
Scientists have identified 415 dead zones worldwide.
Why can’t fish live in the Chesapeake Bay dead zone?
Dead zones are areas of the Bay and its tidal rivers, typically the bottom waters, that don’t have enough oxygen in the water to support aquatic life. With little or no oxygen, fish, crabs, oysters, and other aquatic animals literally suffocate.
How healthy is the Chesapeake Bay?
Two years after its last assessment of the Chesapeake Bay’s health, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has found little overall improvement in the nation’s largest estuary, despite reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus pollution and the shrinking of the bay’s dead zone, an oxygen-deprived area where species are unable to ...
Is Chesapeake Bay clean?
The Chesapeake Bay has been on EPA’s “dirty waters” list for decades. According to the Clean Water Act, states must develop a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) specifying the maximum pollution levels allowable to meet water quality standards for all waters identified on their “dirty waters” list.
Is the Chesapeake Bay 40% lifeless?
The combination of agricultural pesticides, random pollutants, and steroids-in-chicken-manure that have been dumped into the bay, which have (in fact) rendered the Chesapeake 40 percent dead . “Eighty five percent of the story is based on facts,” says Levinson, in an exclusive interview with TakePart.
What is wrong with Chesapeake Bay?
Unfortunately, the Chesapeake Bay faces serious problems due to human activities, including polluted stormwater runoff , over-fertilization and pollution from animal wastes, deforestation, wetland destruction from agricultural, urban, and suburban development, and sea level rise caused by global climate change.
Are there sharks in the Chesapeake Bay?
Overall, sharks aren ‘t a major safety concern in the Chesapeake Bay. The lower Bay’s role as a nursery area for sandbar sharks makes it the most abundant large shark population on the Atlantic coast. But populations of other shark species are limited in this area, so unprovoked attacks are incredibly rare.
Can a dead zone recover?
Coastal waters contain the vast majority, though some exist in inland waterways. A handful of the 166 dead zones have since bounced back through improved management of sewage and agricultural runoff, but as fertilizer use and factory farming increase, we are creating dead zones faster than nature can recover .
Is the Baltic Sea Dead?
In their recently published study, the Finnish and German research team found that marine life in the Baltic sea has been disappearing over the last 100 years , but that the current stress on the sea is “unprecedented.” Unfortunately, agricultural runoff and sewage are not the only ways that humans are harming the sea.
Why are dead zones a problem?
Dead zones are generally caused by significant nutrient pollution , and are primarily a problem for bays, lakes and coastal waters since they receive excess nutrients from upstream sources. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus cause an overgrowth of algae in a short period of time, also called algae blooms.
