Chesapeake Bay Pollution

The Chesapeake Bay has faced an excessive amount of pollution over the past century. The water in the bay has become so highly polluted that It is capable of causing harm to humans coming in direct contact with the water. Although algae serves a vital role in the bay’s ecosystem, it also creates a problem that is causing a large amount of the problem.

Species such as the blue crab, oyster, and atlantic menhaden are three main commercial fishing outputs in the Chesapeake bay, but the recent algae blooms are devastating the harvest numbers of several different species. According to the oyster company of Virginia, over 20 million bushels of oysters were harvested every year during the peak of the oyster rush of the mid 1880’s. These numbers

combined with the progress of oyster harvesting technology led to a major economic boost in the chesapeake bay area. Although, these glory days did not last forever. Due to reef destruction and overharvesting, that 20 million harvest number dropped down to 200,000 bushels in the 1960’s. The oyster export numbers from the bay plummeted, but that was not the only issue sparked by the lack of oysters. According to NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association), oysters are detritus feeding animals. Algae is a key part of the oysters diet, making the oyster an important part of the bays ecosystem. Without the large amounts of oysters to keep algae levels down, the bay is overpopulated by algae so severely that organisms cannot survive in certain areas. The Chesapeake Bay Program states that these areas of little life are called “dead zones.”
The Chesapeake Bay is home to a variety of bay grasses. These underwater grasses play a major role in the bay’s ecosystem. The Chesapeake Bay Food Web shows that bay grasses provide food for small invertebrates and migratory waterfowl, and also shelter for small fish and blue crab. The bay grasses also produce a great amount of nutrients for the microscopic organisms in the bay to feed on.
There are two main types of plankton in the chesapeake bay; phytoplankton and Zooplankton.

According to NOAA phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that continuously convert sunlight and nutrients into living tissue. Phytoplankton can be harmful to the bay because they at an uncontrollable rate causing harmful algae blooms when there is an abundance of nutrients. Phytoplankton also serve as the main food source for a larger but still microscopic organism named Zooplankton. Marine Bio.org did a study on zooplnkton revealing that they are very weak swimmers making them an easy food source for any larger organsim. Zooplanktons’ main purpose serves as the main food source for small fish and

crabs.
Fish are the largest living organisms is the chesapeake bay.

Not only are they a critical part of the bays ecosystem, but they serve as a primary food source for humans living near the bay. Some examples of fish from the Chesapeake Bay Program website include: Striped bass, Atlantic Croaker, Atlantic Sturgeon, and even Sandbar Sharks. Fish are at the top of the food chain in the chesapeake bay and they take a large responsibility in keep the ecosystem in check. Some fish feed on almost any living organism they can find while others search the bottom for smaller nutrients. Fish even serve as a food source for scavengers such as birds living along the

bay.
A dramatic decrease in algae in the bay would be good for the current bay ecosystem as the levels have been so high lately. Some possible effects of a dramatic decrease of algae population would include increased amount of life. If the algae blooms stopped occurring fish and other aquatic organisms could thrive anywhere in the bay without worrying about being claimed by the harmful dead zones. Another effect would include cleaner water to be available to the people living around the bay. The water has been so polluted in some areas by humans and algae that it has become harmful to the human body.
There are many restoration and protection programs working to improve the life of the chesapeake bay. The Environmental Protection agency enacted a “Pollution diet” in december of 2010 that has made several efforts to restrict pollution by humans. We can all work together to improve the bay’s ecosystem health. We need to conserve the amount of waste we let into the bay. If everyone stopped being careless and put a little effort into restoring our environment, the bay would be a profitable resource that everyone could enjoy again.