Chesapeake Bay

We go On the Record to look at what rising sea levels and saltwater mean for Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Climate change is driving saltier water into the Chesapeake. Can farmers who have worked the land for generations adapt to a changing bay?

Good news for Maryland oysters as the restoration of their numbers reach a big milestone. Gov. Wes Moore announced nearly 2 billion oysters had been planted in Maryland waters this year, part of a decade-long effort to revitalize their numbers.

Gentleman farmer turned naval hero of the Chesapeake.

The grades are in. A report card on the health of the Chesapeake Bay goes beyond traditional indicators of nitrogen, phosphorus and water. It also reviews what’s going on with the people in the bay’s massive watershed.

A new report card looks at environmental justice and socio-economic factors alongside pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers that feed it. Plus, how are the bay's crabs doing?

Maryland is home to a rich array of turtle species, from lumbering snapping turtles to sea turtles in the Chesapeake Bay. But the terrapin state’s tortoises are under threat from habitat loss and rising sea levels.

Baltimore County watermen are working to clear lost crab pots that harm the Chesapeake Bay’s ecology and the commercial crab fishery. It’s a local effort aimed at a Baywide problem.

But Baltimore County leaders worry rising sea levels could put those wetlands at risk anyway.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources workers are joined by Virginia’s state crew on boats searching the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries for blue crabs for an annual survey.

Grade is the same as the last report card in 2020 as Blue Crab population in Chesapeake Bay falls to lowest levels this century