Chesapeake Bay is an
estuary lying inland from the
Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the states of
Maryland and
Virginia, the largest such body in the
US.[2] More than 150 rivers and streams[2] flow into the Bay's 64,299 square miles (166,534 km2)
drainage basin, which covers parts of six states (
New York,
Pennsylvania,
Delaware,
Maryland,
Virginia, and
West Virginia) and the
District of Columbia. The Bay is approximately 200 miles (300 km) long from its northern headwaters in the
Susquehanna River to its outlet in the
Atlantic Ocean. It is 2.8 miles (4.5 km) wide at its narrowest (between
Kent County's Plum Point near Newtown and the
Harford County shore near Romney Creek) and 30 miles (50 km) at its widest (just south of the mouth of the
Potomac River). Total shoreline including tributaries is 11,684 miles (18,804 km), representing a surface area of 4,479 square miles (11,601 km2). Average depth is 46 feet (14 m), reaching a maximum of 208 feet (63 m). The bay is spanned twice, in Maryland by the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge from
Sandy Point (near
Annapolis) to
Kent Island, and in Virginia by the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel connecting
Virginia Beach to
Cape Charles. Known for both its beauty and bounty, the bay is becoming "emptier", with fewer crabs,
oysters, and watermen in recent years