Algae Blooms In Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is a 200-mile-long estuary extending from Norfolk, VA to Havre de grace Maryland. On average this bay contains about 68 trillion liters of water. This bay is the largest estuary in North America. It inhabits more than 3,000 species of plants, animals, and fish. “Since the early twentieth century, the Chesapeake Bay has experienced serious environmental degradation. Problems include large reductions in sea grass, reduced amounts of finfish and shellfish (especially oysters and crab), seasonal depletions in dissolved oxygen, and increases in sedimentation.” (Atkins & Anderson, 2003) These changes are brought on by pollution (Eutrophication and Toxic Contamination), development, deforestation, and agriculture. And according

It is their home, their thriving place. According to the National WIldlife Federation, ¨The Bay supports 3,600 species of plant and animal life, including more than 300 fish species and 2,700 plant types.”. Not only does the wildlife depend on the bay, but humans do as well. The Chesapeake Bay contains a 64,000-square-mile watershed, this watershed provides large amounts of drinking water for us in Maryland, along with several other states. Everyday, the condition of the water declines, meaning the home for wildlife and our drinking water does too. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation pointed out that, ¨Toxic chemicals are constantly entering the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams via wastewater, agriculture, stormwater, and air pollution. These harmful chemicals, such as mercury, PCBs, and PAHs, do not break down easily and persist in the environment for many years, impacting not just fish and birds, but humans as well.¨. How important does the restoration of the bay sound

Scientists and researchers began giving a large volume of effort and look into the extremely complex problems that face the Chesapeake Bay. When research for the improving and saving of the Bay’s overall health began it seemed very simple and there were only a couple of problems. The problems included nutrients from agricultural runoff; these nutrients were phosphorus and nitrogen. The combination of the nutrients in the Bay caused a large volume of algae that choked some of the marine life. While bringing in algae the nutrients also killed grasses on the seafloor. These seafloor bed grasses that once covered more than half of the Chesapeake Bay’s floor now only covered a tenth of their original area. Though the estuary was having problems it did not receive the terrible pollution from industries that many large rivers and lakes do in other urban areas (Brown, p. 397).

Types of human activity that affect the Bay's health. Humans either do not see or do not care about the pollution they send into the water. As humans build more factories close to the water or send more waste out of their homes it goes into the Bay causing many problems for the ecosystem. "waste from people's homes, stores, and offices is also treated and discharged into the Bay and its rivers. " (Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem) People do not understand the effects of pollution the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem says that people believe the water where the pollution is going will dilute the pollution and won’t be as bad. Humans do no understand the problems pollution will cause. The population of the Blue Crabs in the Bay was below average for over 10 years. From 1998 until 2009 the crab ecosystem was so unhealthy they were unable to live and reproduce.

Eutrophication is a concern in the Chesapeake Bay. Eutrophication is caused by excessive amounts of nutrients. Excessive nutrients in the bay have negative effects on the bay's ecosystem. The extra nutrients make the environment unbalanced. The extra nutrients cause a chain reaction that eventually kills most of the organisms in that area. This is what is known as a dead zone.

Scene in Fig. 1.1., the Chesapeake Bay is substantial in size; at roughly 64,000 miles, it contains roughly fifty rivers and thousands of streams and creeks. It encompasses parts of 6 states, including all of Washington, DC. The Chesapeake Bay is what is known as a watershed, an area that contributes to the drainage to a water body, stream, river, lake or ocean. Rainwater that falls within the 64,000 square miles that is the Chesapeake Bay will subsequently travel through many streams and rivers, eventually making its way into the largest estuary system in the United States.

One of the most damaging algae species known to Florida along the south-west coast is the Karenia brevis, also known as Florida red tide. These microscopic algae bloom all year around in the Gulf of Mexico producing brevetoxins, which contains a suite of neurotoxic polyether compound. These blooms can last as long as 18 months fluctuating between insignificant blooms to critical, impacting both the marine ecosystems and humans health (Pierce and Henry, 2008). The Florida red tide will continue to be the cause of unexplained fish and other animal deaths, along with human illnesses unless more research and observations is done to find a way of controlling these algae blooms.

With the algae growing so close to the edge or shoreline they are constantly taking in the run-off or whatever may be on the shoreline. This makes it very bad for not just the algae but also the the water and species living down under. A lot of this pollution may come from the big city plants. Their disposals might just be fed right into the Chesapeake Bay and they probably do not care. This is a big problem all over the world, not just the Chesapeake Bay. (Decline of Submerged Plants in the Chesapeake Bay) Another reason to why there is such a decline in not just algae but other grasses is that the warming trend over the last 20 years, global warming. By the looks of it, the warming trend is not going to stop, so this may be a problem to deal with for a longer time. Natural diseases is another way the decline in algae and other grass plants is happening. Mostly dead organisms is the reason for these natural diseases. Once you get a bunch of bacteria and fungi, you will hope to get rid of the algae or grasses because it will most likely just end up making the Bay worse, and turning away species. The number of hurricanes the Chesapeake Bay takes does not help the cause. Hurricanes are affecting the salinity of the Bay. The salinity affects the growth and the amount that grows in a plant as well. (Decline of Submerged Plants in the Chesapeake Bay) The pollution can fall down into the water and you may find pollutants in the sediment. The sediment is home to many species. It can be very protective to large predators and large predators can possibly hide in there while they wait for an attack. Ways the pollutants are getting down there is carelessness by the fisherman and the people in charge of it to take

Even though, fertilizers are needed to supply essential nutrients to the growth of plants; an excess of them is one of the major issues contributing to pollution in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Fertilizers are mainly composed of two elements: nitrogen and phosphorus.(4) Throughout the years, millions of pounds of this nutrients are applied all around the Chesapeake Bay Watershed; everything not absorbed by the soil or taken up by plants eventually reaches the Chesapeake Bay through storm-water runoff. This nutrients end up creating algae blooms in the water, which reduce the amount of sunlight available to underwater grasses; not allowing plants to photosynthesize and produce the food they need to survive. Algae then decomposes creating dead zones killing fish and other species since oxygen is needed for any organism to live. (5)

This article presents the impact of low oxygen waters on Chesapeake Bay Zoo-plankton. Anoxia (oxygen deficiency) reduces the cope-pod abundances in Chesapeake's bottom waters, and disrupts the cope-pods inhabits towards the bottom and their migration to the surface. Also, cope-pods will have limited survival ability in low oxygen conditions in bottom waters. Results show the number of cope-pods surviving for 24 hours were significantly lower in water containing smaller milligrams of oxygen liter. Some will have a greater chance of survival because of their low metabolism that requires smaller oxygen. Low oxygen reduces the filtration rate of zoo-plankton and the filtration rate of the fresh water. Decreased filtration reduces metabolic rate in low-oxygen conditions, generally occur in the mesohaline part in summer. Low oxygen-levels may cut phyto-plankton and Cope pod's production. Lower oxygen concentration prevents hatching and the growth of eggs, which eggs could survive a few days if temperatures are cold and as the eggs sink to the bottom.

To begin, there are many types of human activities affecting the health of Chesapeake Bay. Residential developments have replaced wetlands, forests and meadows, taking away habitats of the native wildlife. Overuse of natural resources has caused the degradation of foods necessary for wildlife in the ecosystem. Intensive hunting practices have caused the extinction of several species in the area. Soil damage as a result of fertilization has contaminated nearby water supplies, causing damage in the Bay. Point-source pollution as a result of industrial businesses has also

Our watershed, the chesapeake bay stretches more than 64,000 square miles and is home to about 18 million people.The bay provides us with a lot of things like fishes,salt and water for farming etc. But, the bay is starting to get polluted and many organisms in the bay are dying because of sediments, algae blooms etc.

Overall the best solution from the three is to plant more trees around Chesapeake Bay so it will clean the air. A positive environmental consequence is that the more trees that they plant will make the air cleaner. When the air is cleaner it will decrease the chance of acid rain, and acid rain will make the water worse for the animals. If the animals stay alive then more of the wildlife will come back and that will revive the ecosystem around the bay. A negative environmental would be that the trees will take a long time to grow. It takes 3-4 years for a normal tree to grow, that is way to long to wait for the pollution problem to be

In the four centuries since the explorations of Captain John Smith, the Chesapeake Bay has lost half of its forested shoreline, more than half its wetlands, nearly 80 percent of its underwater grasses, and more than 98 percent of its oysters. Across the watershed, approximately 1.7 million acres of once-untouched land were developed by 1950. Development has accelerated dramatically since then, with an

live and feed in those coral reefs until they are big enough to survive the wide vast of the deep ocean. Warming temperatures are also a death sentence to many species of fish. When I was visiting Port Saint Joe, FL and it’s surrounding area, I noticed that at some places the tide was a tinted yellow, orange and red. It was Red Tide, also known as harmful algal bloom. Simple plants the live in the sea and freshwater grow out of control. These algal blooms produce toxic and harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds. Algal bloom has high concentrations of nutrients from agricultural and urban run off. Red Tide does expand the decomposition of which kills animals by depleting the oxygen levels needed, limits the aquatic plant growth. This was occurring both at the shoreline of Powell Lake in Laguna Beach, FL and the East Bay in Panama City, FL. Off the tip of St Joseph Peninsula State Park, the government agencies were picking up hundreds of dead fish this past month alone. Red Tide could be found in a stretch of miles west of the peninsula to Mexico Beach and east of the peninsula to Cape San Blas.