This photograph shows a heron. Herons like the Great Blue Heron stand about 4 feet tall and have a wing span of more than 6 feet! Herons like to hunt in the shallow coves of Chesapeake Bay, especially in all of the tributaries that empty out into the Bay. The Bay provides small fish, salamanders, frogs, snakes, lizards, shellfish, rodents and many insects for the herons to feast upon.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of USGS (United States Geological Survey

Life in Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay is an estuary that has a lot of plants, fish and animals living in it.

The plants are really important in Chesapeake Bay. The fish, birds and other animals eat the plants. And sometimes the fish and other creatures lay their eggs or hide their young in the plants.

The Bay is home to many fish, from the Bay anchovy to the sandbar shark. It supports blue crabs, horshoe crabs and American oysters. Humans get over 500 million pounds of seafood from the Bay each year! Sea turtles, eels, dolphins, rays, seahorses, and jellyfish also live in the Bay.

Thousands of birds call Chesapeake Bay their home. Bald eagles, snowy egrets, great blue herons, geese, swans, ducks and gulls all live in this place.

The things humans do have a big impact on the rest of life in Chesapeake Bay. You can help save life in Chesapeake Bay or wherever you live. Never throw garbage in the water...and if you see a piece of litter outside, pick it up and put it in a garbage can where it belongs.

Last modified June 19, 2001 by Jennifer Bergman.

You might also be interested in:

Sharks

Look out! It's a shark! Don't worry! Sharks aren't as mean as they look. Sharks are more scared of you than you are of them. Most sharks eat fish or crustaceans. Humans aren't on their menu! The great...more

Crabs

Crabs are very neat animals! They have a hard shell that protects their soft bodies. They also have claws for grabbing food. There are many kinds of crabs. Some are a foot long, and others are very small....more

Molluscs

Many different animals are under the name molluscs. Scallops and clams are a special kind of mollusc called bivalves. Bivalves have two shells sandwiched together. They eat plankton and algae. Squid and...more

Eels

Eels are long, thin animals that look like snakes in the ocean! Eels are colorful but they still look scary. Sometimes they only look scary in case of danger, but they're really harmless. There are eels...more

Dolphins

Dolphins are the most playful animals in the sea! They are often seen jumping high in the air and then diving deeply into the water. Dolphins don't have very good eyesight, so they use echos to see. Echos...more

Rays

Rays are really neat animals. They flow through the water like silk. Rays have soft, wide bodies. Some of them are dangerous, so you shouldn't try to touch them! The manta ray is the biggest ray of all....more

Cnidarians

Cnidarians are a special type of sea animal. All cnidarians have little stinging cells. Jellyfish, corals and anemones are all cnidarians. Corals look like plants, but are really animals. There are hard...more

Ocean Life

There are all kinds of animals that we call sea life. Crabs , worms, eels and sharks are all sea life. These animals live in water their entire life. Crabs, worms and many others are called invertebrates...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA