findchesia.com - Chesapeake Bay

Facts about the Chesapeake Bay:
-Is an estuary, a body of water where one or more freshwater rivers meet with the salt water of an ocean.

-Is 200 miles long

-Holds more than 15 trillion gallons of water

-Supports more than 3,600 species of plants, fish and animals

-Produces about 500 million pounds of seafood per year

Public Domain Image courtesy of NASA

Exploration of the Chesapeake Bay area:
1524 - Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano sailed along the eastern coast of North America, completely missing the Chesapeake Bay. He did however explore Chincoteague Bay and the Eastern Shore area.

1561 - Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles explored the Baya de Santa Maria (the Spanish name for the Chesapeake Bay). He returned to the area again in 1568.

Somewhere in the 1580s - Spanish explorer Vincent Gonzales explored the most northern parts of the Chesapeake Bay.

1603 - English captain Bartholomew Gilbert anchored off Maryland's Eastern Shore. He and some of his crew went ashore, where they were killed by natives.

1608 - English explorer Captain John Smith explores Chesapeake Bay area. He was the first to meet the Susquehannock tribe. During his 9-week exploration, John Smith created a map that continues to be used today. Modern archeologists use Smith's map to locate native villages and to choose dig sites. Many of the villages on Smith's map disappeared shortly after the map was completed.

Resources:
Doak, Robin and Rice, Ph.D, James D. (2007). Voices from Colonial America Maryland 1634-1776. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic.

Chesapeake Bay Program. (n.d.). Chesapeake Bay Program, A Watershed Partnership. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from http://www.chesapeakebay.net/index.aspx

Modify Website