Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, stretching 200 miles from the mouth of the Susquehanna River to the Virginia Capes, with a shoreline exceeding 11,000 miles when all tidal tributaries are included. The bay and its watershed support blue crab, striped bass, and American oyster fisheries that have defined regional culture for centuries. The Eastern Shore communities of Maryland and Virginia, particularly towns like St. Michaels and Oxford, retain the working waterfront character of the traditional bay watermen culture.