Delaware Bay

1500s - present

This region, once inhabited by the Lenni Lenape people, has long been a flourishing habitat for herring, alewife, sturgeon, shad, and eel. Tidal marshes and sandy beaches make up the banks of the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean. The adjacent Pine Barrens of cedar, pine, and oak provide a home for a variety of native wildlife. As cities around the water developed, overfishing of species like shad threatened the sustainability of native stocks. Today, over 100 chemical manufacturing plants populate the region, risking pollution and habitat destruction. Dredging in the Bay suspends sediment, reintroducing toxic material that can harm the survival of clams, oysters, crabs, shrimp, and other benthic organisms. The coastal landscape offers the perfect spawning ground for the horseshoe crab every spring. This ancient species has faced extreme pressure as demands from pharmaceutical companies and fishers has increased. Spawning horseshoe crabs bring the endangered red knot to the Delaware shores. This rich estuary provides over 140,000 acres of tidal wetlands to the second largest population of shorebirds in North America. The saltmarsh sparrow, black rail, clapper rails, king rails all face difficulty in the region as sea levels rise and salt marshes erode and migrate up the coast. Oysters and ribbed mussels work to filter the bay's water and maintain stability in habitat. New Jersey’s Cape May National Refuge provides critical habitat for over 300 bird species and numerous mammals, fish, and invertebrates. Climate change, industrial pollution, overfishing, and invasive species all harm native species and the sustainability of a rich and diverse estuary ecosystem.

BIRDS: 2 species are extinct and 1 is endangered
FISH: 1 species is endangered
MAMMALS: 5 species are endangered
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS: 3 species are endangered and 3 are threatened
INVASIVE SPECIES: 7 invasive and non-native fish and crustacean species

The territory of the Delaware Bay falls within the ancestral homelands of the Lenapehoking (Lenni-Lenape) and Nanticoke peoples.

Territorial recognition: https://native-land.ca/

Most Pressing Issues

Habitat Erosion

Extensive engineering projects, human development, and rising sea levels are causing increased erosion of sand beaches and marsh habitats. Marshes are being ‘pushed’ upland, increasing creek salinity and causing the destruction of tree cover. Migratory birds who flock to the region to spawn face destruction of the breeding grounds.

Oil Pollution

The Bay’s rivers are home to several petrochemical plants, providing transportation for fossil fuels. Several oil spills in the region have occurred, destroying habitats and killing wildlife. Industrial runoff from the heavily developed region around the estuary damages niche environments and puts further stress on species who maintain water quality like mussels and oysters.

Overfishing

Once home to an abundance of aquatic species, the Bay has been a site of major non-sustainable fishing practices. Species like the shad have experienced major overfishing through the years. Demand for horseshoe crab has simultaneously put stress on the endangered red knot, which migrates to the region to feast on crab eggs each spring.

Climate Change

Rising sea levels threaten the Delaware Bay’s salt marsh landscape. These habitats help preserve the bay and coastal communities, in addition to providing an abundance of biodiversity. Native fauna depend on marshes for breeding, nursery, and feeding. These landscapes are being wiped away as the ocean warms and sea levels rise. An increase in the frequency and intensity of severe weather events further threatens the region.

How You Can Help

Wetlands Institute

The Wetlands Institute has brought scientists and volunteer citizens together to conduct censuses of the ecologically vital horseshoe crab population.

American Litoral Society

The American Litoral Society works closely with state and non-profit land trust partners to preserve areas in the Dela- ware Bayshore area important to water quality, aquatic resources, wildlife and public access.

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey

The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey and the Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP) of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish & Wildlife work to conduct research on Delaware Bay shorebirds in order to prevent their decline.

Sources:

Frank Dale, Delaware Diary: Episodes in the Life of a River (New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, 1996), 2.

Jean R. Soderlund, Lenape Country: Delaware Valley Society Before William Penn (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015), 13.

Charles Hardy, “Fish Or Foul: A History of the Delaware River Basin through the Perspective of the American Shad, 1682 to the Present,” Pennsylvania History 66, no. 4, (1999): 506-534.

Environmental Protection Agency, The National Estuary Program After Four Years: A Report to Congress (University of Virginia, 1992), 64.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Cape May National Wildlife Refuge. [Washington, D.C.?]: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 1999, 3.

Reed A. Schwimmer, “Rates and processes of marsh shoreline erosion in Rehoboth Bay, Delaware, USA,” Journal of Coastal Research (2001): 672-683.

David Zucchino, “Oil Spill on Delaware River Grows Worse, Injures Wildlife,” Chicago Tribune, December 5, 2004,https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-12-05-0412050171-story.html .

Delaware Bay and Estuary Assessment Report. Delaware: Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environ- mental Control, 2005. Print.

M. S. Danihel, L. M. O’Donnell, and T. R. Catania, reTURN the Favor Horseshoe Crab Rescue Project Pilot Year Summary Report (New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species, 2014), 2.

Lisa W. Foderaro, "A Bird, a Crab and a Shared Fight to Survive," New York Times, June 5, 2012,https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/nyregion/red-knots-horseshoe-crabs-and-fight-to-survive-in-delaware-bay.html .

Robert Loveland and Mark Botton in Ted Williams, "Domino Effect: The Myriad Impacts of Warming on an East Coast Estuary," Yale Environment 360, May 17, 2017,https://e360.yale.edu/features/domino-effect-the-myriad-impacts-of-warming-on-an-east-coast-estuary .

Bryan D. Watts, Status and distribution of the eastern black rail along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America, The Center for Conservation Biology Technical Report

Series, CCBTR-16-09 (Williamsburg, VA: College of William and Mary/Virginia Commonwealth University, 2016), 55.

Ted Williams, “Domino Effect: The Myriad Impacts of Warming on an East Coast Estuary,” Yale Environment 360, May 17, 2017, https://e360.yale.edu/features/domino-effect-the-myriad-impacts-of-warming-on-an-east-coast-estuary.