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Delaware Bay

 
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Delaware Bay
 
 
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Delaware Bay is a large estuary
Estuary

An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
 outlet of the Delaware River
Delaware River

The Delaware River is a river on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States.The Delaware was explored by Adriaen Block as part of the New Netherlands Colony, and was named the South River to mark the southernmost reach of that colony....
 on the Northeast seaboard of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
. It is in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey
New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, on the east by the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania....
 and the State of Delaware
Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the East Coast of the United States in the Mid-Atlantic States region of the United States. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, a British nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom Cape Henlopen was originally named....
. It was the first site classified in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network

The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network is a conservation movement strategy targeting shorebirds in the Americas launched in 1985. Its aim is to protect the nesting, reproduction and staging area habitats of Bird migration shorebirds....
.

The pair of Delaware Capes that denote the outermost boundary of the Bay with the Atlantic are Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen

Cape Henlopen is the southern Headlands and bays of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, Delaware....
 and Cape May.






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Delaware Bay is a large estuary
Estuary

An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
 outlet of the Delaware River
Delaware River

The Delaware River is a river on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States.The Delaware was explored by Adriaen Block as part of the New Netherlands Colony, and was named the South River to mark the southernmost reach of that colony....
 on the Northeast seaboard of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
. It is in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey
New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, on the east by the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania....
 and the State of Delaware
Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the East Coast of the United States in the Mid-Atlantic States region of the United States. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, a British nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom Cape Henlopen was originally named....
. It was the first site classified in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network

The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network is a conservation movement strategy targeting shorebirds in the Americas launched in 1985. Its aim is to protect the nesting, reproduction and staging area habitats of Bird migration shorebirds....
.

The pair of Delaware Capes that denote the outermost boundary of the Bay with the Atlantic are Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen

Cape Henlopen is the southern Headlands and bays of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, Delaware....
 and Cape May. The Cape May-Lewes Ferry crosses the Delaware Bay from Cape May, New Jersey, to Lewes, Delaware
Lewes, Delaware

Lewes is an incorporated city in Sussex County, Delaware, Delaware, United States of the Delmarva Peninsula. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,116....
. Management of ports along the bay is the responsibility of the Delaware River and Bay Authority
Delaware River and Bay Authority

The Delaware River and Bay Authority or DRBA is a bi-state government agency of the New Jersey and the Delaware established by interstate compact in 1961....
.

The shores of the bay are largely composed of salt marshes and mud flats, with only small communities inhabiting the shore of the lower bay. Besides the Delaware, it is fed by numerous smaller streams. The rivers on the Delaware side include (from north to south): the Christina River
Christina River

The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles long, in northern Delaware in the United States, also flowing through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland....
, the Appoquinimink River
Appoquinimink River

The Appoquinimink River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in northern Delaware in the United States. The river is 16.6 miles long and drains an area of 47 square miles on the Atlantic Coastal Plain....
, the Leipsic River
Leipsic River

The Leipsic River is a river, approximately 15 mi long, in central Delaware in the United States.It rises in northern Kent County, Delaware, approximately 8 mi northwest of Dover, Delaware....
, the Smyrna River
Smyrna River

The Smyrna River is a river, approximately 15 mi long, in central Delaware in the United States.It rises in northwestern Kent County, Delaware, approximately 3 mi northwest of Kenton, Delaware, and flows generally ENE, past Smyrna, Delaware and forming the boundary between Kent and New Castle County, Delaware counties....
, the St. Jones River
St. Jones River

The St. Jones River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in central Delaware in the United States. It is 10.5 mi long and drains an area of 36 square miles on the Atlantic Coastal Plain....
, and the Murderkill River
Murderkill River

The Murderkill River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in central Delaware in the United States. It is approximately 20 mi long and drains an area of 106 square miles on the Atlantic Coastal Plain....
. Rivers on the New Jersey side include the Salem River
Salem River

The Salem River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately thirty miles long, in southwestern New Jersey in the United States.The course and watershed of the Salem River are entirely within Salem County, New Jersey....
, Cohansey River, and the Maurice River
Maurice River

The Maurice River is a tributary of the Delaware River in southwestern New Jersey in the United States.The Maurice River, pronounced "Morris", is approximately 50 mi long and is the second longest and largest tributary to Delaware Bay....
. Several of the rivers hold protected status for the unique salt marsh wetlands along the shore of the bay. The bay serves as a breeding ground for many aquatic species, including horseshoe crab
Horseshoe crab

The horseshoe crab or Atlantic horseshoe crab is a marine chelicerate arthropod. Despite its name, it is more closely related to spiders, ticks, and scorpions than to crabs....
s. The bay is also a prime oyster
Oyster

The common name oyster is used for a number of different groups of bivalve mollusks, most of which live in marine habitats or brackish water....
ing ground.

History

At the time of the arrival of the Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
ans in the 17th century, the area around the bay was inhabited by the Lenape
Lenape

The Lenape are organized bands of Native Americans in the United States peoples with shared cultural and linguistic characteristics.These are the people who are living in what is now New Jersey and along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, the northern shore of Delaware, and the lower Hudson Valley and New York Harbor in New York, at the t...
. The Indian name for the bay was Poutaxat. The river they called Lenape Wihittuck, which means "the rapid stream of the Lenape". The first recorded European visit to the bay was by Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson was an England sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. After several voyages on behalf of English merchants to explore a prospective Northeast Passage to China, Hudson explored the region around modern New York City while looking for a western route to the Orient under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company....
 in 1609. The bay, the river, and the Indian tribe were all renamed after Lord Delaware (Thomas West, 3rd (or 12th) Baron De La Warr), an Englishman who led the contingent which reinforced the Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia

Jamestown, located on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony, was founded on May 14, 1607. It is commonly regarded as the first permanent England settlement in what is now the United States of America, following several earlier failed attempts....
 settlement in 1610. In the middle 17th century, an area of the bay was claimed by the Dutch
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
 as part of the New Netherland
New Netherland

File:Seal of new netherland.jpgNew Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the seventeenth-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the Eastern Seaboard of North America....
 colony. It was also settled by the Swedish
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
, as part of the New Sweden
New Sweden

New Sweden was a small Sweden settlement along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. It was centered at Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, Delaware, and included parts of the present-day United States states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
 colony, resulting in conflicts with the Dutch, who eventually took control of the area. After the British
Kingdom of Great Britain

The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a country in North-West Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801....
 took control of the area, the area of the present day states of Delaware and Pennsylvania was granted to William Penn
William Penn

William Penn was founder and "Absolute Proprietor" of the Province of Pennsylvania, the England North American colony and the future U.S. state of Pennsylvania....
, who also controlled the area of West Jersey
West Jersey

Province of New Jersey was governed as two distinct provinces, East Jersey and West Jersey, for the 28 years between 1674 and 1702.Determination of an exact location for a border between West Jersey and East Jersey was often a matter of dispute....
 on the north side of the river. The area was quickly settled, leading to the growth of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population city in the United States. It is the fifth-largest metropolitan area and fourth-largest urban area by population in the United States, the nation's fourth-largest consumer media market as ranked by the Nielsen Media Research, and the 49th-most...
 upriver on the Delaware as the largest city in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 in the 18th century.

The strategic importance of the bay was noticed by the Marquis de Lafayette during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , also known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Thirteen Colonies on the North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers....
, who proposed the use of Pea Patch Island
Pea Patch Island

Pea Patch Island is a small island, approximately 1 mi long, in the U.S. state of Delaware, located in the mid channel of the Delaware River near its entrance into Delaware Bay....
 at the head of the bay for a defensive fortification to protect the important ports Philadelphia and New Castle, Delaware
New Castle, Delaware

New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, Delaware, six miles south of Wilmington, Delaware, situated on the Delaware River, at the head of Delaware Bay....
. Fort Delaware
Fort Delaware

Fort Delaware is a harbor defense facility built in 1859 on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River. During the American Civil War, the United States used Fort Delaware as a prison for Confederate States of America Prisoner of war....
 was later constructed on Pea Patch Island. During the American Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
 it was used as a Union
Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the Federal government of the United States of the United States, which was supported by the twenty-three states which were not part of the secession attempt by the 11 states that formed the Confederate States of America....
 prison camp.

In 1885, the United States government systematically undertook the formation of a channel wide from Philadelphia to deep water in Delaware Bay. The River and Harbor Act of 1899 provided for a channel wide from Philadelphia to the deep water of the bay. The bay today is one of the most important navigational channels in the United States, and is the second busiest waterway in the United States after the Mississippi River
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
. Its lower course forms part of the Intracoastal Waterway
Intracoastal Waterway

The Intracoastal Waterway is a 4,800-km waterway along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are man-made canals....
. The need for direct navigation around the two capes into the ocean is circumvented by the Cape May Canal and the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal
Lewes and Rehoboth Canal

The Lewes and Rehoboth Canal is a canal in Sussex County, Delaware, Delaware. It connects the Broadkill River to Rehoboth Bay, and forms a portion of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway....
 at the north and south capes respectively. The upper bay is also connected directly to the north end of Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia....
 by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is a 14-mile long, 450-foot wide and 35-foot deep ship canal that cuts across the states of Maryland and Delaware, in the United States....
. For boaters using the bay, the bay offers several challenges. First, there is a significant current of up to three knots which has the effect of giving a boost or slowing you. Second, the bay is for the most part shallow and the channel is often occupied with ocean going vessels. When wind is in opposition to the current, it quickly builds a very nasty chop. Finally, it does not offer many places where you can take shelter.

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