Delaware Bay is a large estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the Northeast seaboard of the United States whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. 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 The Delaware River is a river on the Atlantic coast of the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the It is 782 square miles (2,030 km²) in area. [1] The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Delaware ( is a state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It was the first site classified in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network is a conservation strategy targeting Shorebirds in the Americas launched in 1985
The pair of Delaware Capes that denote the outermost boundary of the Bay with the Atlantic are Cape Henlopen and Cape May. Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. This article is about the body of land between Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean The Cape May-Lewes Ferry crosses the Delaware Bay from Cape May, New Jersey to Lewes, Delaware. The Cape May−Lewes Ferry is a ferry system that traverses a 17-mile (27 km crossing of the Delaware Bay to connect Cape May, New Jersey with Lewes Cape May, is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, where the Delaware Bay meets the Lewes (ˈluːɨs is an incorporated City in Sussex County, Delaware, United States of the Delmarva Peninsula. Management of ports along the bay is the responsibility of the Delaware River and Bay Authority. The Delaware River and Bay Authority or DRBA is a bi-state government agency of the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware established by Interstate
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. A salt marsh is a type of Marsh that is a transitional intertidal between land and salty or Brackish water (e Besides the Delaware, it is fed by numerous smaller streams. The rivers on the Delaware side include (from north to south): the Christina River, the Appoquinimink River, the Leipsic River, the Smyrna River, the St. Jones River, and the Murderkill River. The Christina River is a Tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles (56 km long in northern Delaware in the United States The Leipsic River is a River, approximately 15 mi (24 km long in central Delaware in the United States. The Smyrna River is a River, approximately 15 mi (24 km long in central Delaware in the United States. The St Jones River is a River flowing to Delaware Bay in central Delaware in the United States. The Murderkill River is a River flowing to Delaware Bay in central Delaware in the United States. Rivers on the New Jersey side include the Salem River, Cohansey River, and the Maurice River. The Salem River is a Tributary of the Delaware River, approximately thirty miles (48 km long in southwestern New Jersey in the United The Cohansey River (also called Cohansey Creek) is a River, approximately 35 mi (56 km long in southern New Jersey in the United States The Maurice River is a Tributary of the Delaware River in southwestern New Jersey in the United States. Several of the rivers hold protected status for the unique salt marsh wetlands along the shore of the bay. A wetland is an area of Land consisting of Soil that is Saturated with Moisture, such as a Swamp, Marsh, or Bog The bay serves as a breeding ground for many aquatic species, including horseshoe crabs. The horseshoe crab or Atlantic horseshoe crab ( Limulus polyphemus) is a marine Chelicerate Arthropod. The bay is also a prime oystering ground. 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.
History
At the time of the arrival of the Europeans in the 17th century, the area around the bay was inhabited by the Lenape. The shannon (later named Delaware Indians by Europeans were in the 17th century organized bands of Native American peoples with shared cultural and linguistic 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 in 1609. Henry Hudson' (1570 &ndash 1611 was an English Sea explorer and Navigator in the early 17th century 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 settlement in 1610. Thomas West 3rd (or 12th Baron De La Warr ( July 9, 1577 &ndash June 7, 1618) was the Englishman after whom the bay, Jamestown, located on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony, was founded on May 14 1607 In the middle 17th century, an area of the bay was claimed by the Dutch as part of the New Netherland colony. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands New Netherland (Dutch Nieuw-Nederland, Latin Novum Belgium or Nova Belgica) 1614–1674 is the name of the former Dutch territory on the eastern coast It was also settled by the Swedish, as part of the New Sweden colony, resulting in conflicts with the Dutch, who eventually took control of the area. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. New Sweden ( Nya Sverige in Swedish and Uusi-Ruotsi in Finnish) was a small Swedish settlement along the Delaware River After the British took control of the area, the area of the present day states of Delaware and Pennsylvania was granted to William Penn, who also controlled the area of West Jersey on the north side of the river. The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a State in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1800 William Penn ( October 14, 1644 – July 30, 1718) was founder and "Absolute Proprietor" of the Province of Pennsylvania, New Jersey was governed as two distinct provinces East Jersey and West Jersey, for the 28 years between 1674 and 1702. The area was quickly settled, leading to the growth of Philadelphia upriver on the Delaware as the largest city in North America in the 18th century. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə
The strategic importance of the bay was noticed by the Marquis de Lafayette during the American Revolutionary War, who proposed the use of Pea Patch Island at the head of the bay for a defensive fortification to protect the important ports Philadelphia and New Castle, Delaware. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" Pea Patch Island is a small Island, approximately 1 mi (16 km long in the U New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, six miles (10 km south of Wilmington, situated on the Delaware River, at the head Fort Delaware was later constructed on Pea Patch Island. Fort Delaware is a harbor defense facility built in 1859 on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River. During the American Civil War it was used as a Union prison camp. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty-three
In 1885, the United States government systematically undertook the formation of a 26 ft (7. 9 m) channel 600 ft (180 m) wide from Philadelphia to deep water in Delaware Bay. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə The River and Harbor Act of 1899 provided for a 30-foot (9. 1 m) channel 600 feet (180 m) 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. The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to Its lower course forms part of the Intracoastal Waterway. The Intracoastal Waterway is a 4800-km (3000-mile Waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. 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 at the north and south capes respectively. The Cape May Canal is a Waterway that stretches nearly three miles from Cape May Harbor to the Delaware Bay, at the southern tip of Cape May County Lewes and Rehoboth Canal is a Canal in Sussex County, Delaware. The upper bay is also connected directly to the north end of Chesapeake Bay by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest Estuary in the United States. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal ( C&D Canal) is a 14-mile (23-km long 450-foot (137-m wide and 35-foot (11-m deep ship Canal that cuts across the states of
References
External links
- DelawareBay.com: The Delaware Bay Home Page
- [1]Delaware Riverkeeper Network
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