Bay Facts
The Bay is full of interesting facts and trivia related to its history, wildlife, geography and more.
Filtering drinking water
Forests and trees help filter and protect the drinking water of 75% of watershed residents.
Learn more64,000 square miles
The area of the watershed is about 64,000 square miles.
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.
Where 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.
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).
Replacing grass lawn with native plants
Twenty-six percent of watershed residents have replaced an area of their grass lawn with native plants. Native plants provide food and habitat to bees, birds and butterflies, and often don’t need to be watered or fertilized.
Learn moreReducing 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 moreAvoiding toxic pesticides
Forty-six percent of watershed residents never use toxic pesticides in or around their homes. You can evaluate a pesticide’s toxicity to judge the risk in using it, or make your own non-toxic pesticide with garlic, vinegar, cooking oil and other common household items.
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.
85% of airborne nitrogen
Healthy forests can capture more than 85% of the nitrogen that falls onto them from the air.
Filtering up to 50 gallons of water a day
At filter feeders, oysters can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day.
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.
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 more60% 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 more500,000 Canada geese
More than 500,000 Canada geese winter in and near the Bay.
Learn moreMeaning of "Chesepiooc"
The word Chesepiooc is an Algonquian word referring to a village "at a big river." In 2005, Algonquian historian Blair Rudes helped dispel the widely-held belief that the name meant “great shellfish bay.”
174 feet deep
The deepest part of the Bay, located southeast of Annapolis near Bloody Point, is called “The Hole” and is 174 feet deep.
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 more1,800 local governments
There are nearly 1,800 local governments in the Bay watershed, including towns, cities, counties and townships.
4,863 feet above sea level
At 4,863 feet above sea level, Spruce Knob is the highest point in the Chesapeake watershed.
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.
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 moreMore than 200 historic shipwrecks
Mallows Bay is the final resting place for more than 200 historic shipwrecks dating back to the Revolutionary War. Commonly referred to as the “Ghost Fleet” of Mallows Bay, it is the largest collection of shipwrecks in the Western Hemisphere.
12 miles wide
The mouth of the Chesapeake Bay is about 12 miles wide between its northern point near Cape Charles, Virginia, and its southern point close to Cape Henry, Virginia.