Shallow Waters
Shallow waters provide important habitat and food for many types of animals and plants, ranging from fish to birds to tiny invertebrates.
Along the Bay's shoreline is a zone of incredible biological activity: the shallows. Defined as the area from the shoreline to a depth of about 10 feet, shallow waters support a vast assortment of life, including plants, fish, birds and shellfish.
Shallow waters are continuously shifting with the tides and have extreme environmental changes throughout the year due to the weather. In the summer, the shallows become very warm, while in winter they are often covered with ice. Wind and rain storms can also affect shallow waters by changing the salinity and clouding the water with excess algae and sediment.
How are shallow waters an important habitat?
Shallow waters provide habitat for a host of plants and animals, including worms, clams, crabs, fish, turtles, muskrats, waterfowl and microscopic plants (zooplankton) and animals (phytoplankton).
- Many small species of fish and invertebrates use these nearshore areas for refuge from larger predators.
- Fallen trees and limbs along shorelines provide hard surfaces for invertebrates like barnacles and mussels to attach themselves to.
- At least 16 species of underwater bay grasses grow in the shallow waters of the Bay and its tributaries. Bay grasses are most affected by water-clouding algae and sediment, as they need sunlight to grow.
- Juvenile spot, croaker, blue crabs and striped bass, as well as killifish, grass shrimp and sand shrimp, use bay grasses, shorelines and marshes for cover and as nursery areas.
- Raptors, shorebirds, wading birds and migratory waterfowl all feed on fish, invertebrates and bay grasses found in shallow waters.
- Horseshoe crabs and diamondback terrapins travel through the shallows to deposit their eggs on sandy beaches and tidal flats.