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CHAPTER VIII THE DELAWARE BAY The Zone of Transition
In this transition zone of salt and fresh remains another zone of conflict: Man and Nature. Warning signs along the roads on both sides of river/bay reads, “Stay tune to this radio station if you hear a siren”, advertise the dangers from the islands of chemical refineries and the Salem nuclear power plant, all of which resides in seas of green marsh grass.
Where does the Delaware River end and the Delaware Bay begin? One will get a different answer for this same question from different people. A good physical starting point for the Bay, for me, is the Twin Delaware Memorial Bridges. This represents a gate between the river and bay. The twin bridges span 11,000 feet over the river carrying more than 80,000 cars per day over the Delaware [103]. To the river, the twin bridges mark the end of the freshwater journey to the sea. To the Bay the gate represents its source of existence. To the people that drive over the bridge the gate serves not just a nice view of water but as the main north south artery of the Northeastern United States. It is here, at this point that 80,000 plus people a day see only the junction between two cities, Willington and Penn Grove and not the miles of brown mudflats and flat green marshlands of the true Delaware Bay. It also here that one can start to taste the salt in the water. The bridge, to some fisherman, mark the far upper limits of saltwater snapper blues and croakers. A set of monuments agreed by both The States of New Jersey and Delaware in 1906 in Liston Point, Delaware and at Hope Creek, New Jersey, (south of Salem in the Mad Horse Creek WMA) mark the official division between Bay and River. But, another more common location that can mark the line between River and Bay is at Ship John’s Light House that sits off Bombay Point Delaware. The water widens south of Ship John’s Light House and the salinity of the water reaches a point where it becomes acceptable to all saltwater fish.
The Bay tends to be a forgotten entity, in our world for it has few news worthy stories. The bay’s only reminder of its presence is the pear shaped outline seen on the daily weather maps. In fact, a car driving along the bay, yields only a few points where one can actually see water. Most roads end at isolated small marinas or observation platforms where the view is not of water but a horizon of endless green mash-land grasses. There are still a few small towns like Port Penn, Port Norris and Mispillion along the bay still retaining some form of the old traditional fishing activity passed down from generation to generation that mirrors the slowly disappearing lower Chesapeake culture of Maryland and Virginia. The shorelines on both sides are doted with tree-covered peninsulas of land with a collection of low cost mobile homes and beautiful mansions surrounded by tall marshland grass and islands. Even though one can see the next town, it may be a long hour to drive to it. Most of these isolated small fishing communities are closer to each other by boat than by car in many respects. With the development of the shore resorts to the east and ports to the west this is still an island of water and shoreline where our highway system and most people bypass. When you look at a nighttime satellite photo of the northeastern United States the coastlines are clearly highlighted except for the shores of the Delaware Bay, which fade and disappears into a dark hole
When the early sailing ships took several weeks to struggle up the river to the port of Philadelphia, many of the small communities along the bay had great hopes of becoming a major seaport. Anticipating its future place in commercial history, many of these small early towns built wide streets and annexed large city limits that today extend into swamps and pine forest. Many such towns like Salem, Bridgeton, Port Penn and Millville did act as seaports before the advent of steam. With the arrival of steam power, these towns never left the economical activity of fishing, farming, harvesting of swamp grass, and pulling ancient cedar logs from swamps for lumber [33]. With the every present high population of mosquitoes and worse, the green horse flies, this isolation lasted well into the twentieth century. Even military installations like Fort DuPont, Delaware and Mott were caught in a time capsule captured in the war for which they were built.
The forgotten shoreline gave us one major gift, it bought time for government agencies to recognize the importance of the marshlands and permitted an opportunity to begin property accusations of land that had not yet been developed. Within the bay about 50 percent of the inter coastline is under protection of State and Federal control [62]. It is estimated that there is 350 square miles of salt marshes in the Delaware Bay area [126]. Today New Jersey has 51,910 acres and Delaware has 51,054 acres of wetland preserves [62]. The reserves along the bay, all share one common attribute; isolation. Boat travel remains the best way to see the natural beauty of these water and land interfaces. On the New Jersey side of the Bay there are a series of reserves called Wildlife, Management Areas (WMAs). These marshes were first bought with hunting and fishing license fees but later New Jersey voters passed laws for the Green Acre Act which authorities bonds for more acquisitions of WMAs. Today most states have strict laws on wet land usages with New Jersey being one of the most restrictive. There are over a dozen of these WMA along the New Jersey shore that provides access for fisherman, hunters and bird watchers. These New Jersey’s WMAs are famous among groups who follow the migration patterns of geese, most notability the snow goose. It is a win-win situation for all parties involved, including wildlife. On the Delaware side, there are two national Parks, Prime Hook National Park and Bombay Hook as well as several state parks. Besides the benefit to wildlife, the open public land provides a source for the recreational industries to service the fishing, hunting and bird watching enthuses
Marshland with dead trees from saltwater intrusion
The estuary, from the twin Memorial bridges to the Capes is 65 miles. Approximately 170 miles of shoreline surround the bay not including the many maundering channels and islands. Width ranges from 12 miles at the Capes to 37 miles at the widest. The main shipping channel follows the center of the bay over the state dividing line between New Jersey and Delaware. The channels length is measured by a mileage system set by the Delaware River Basin Commission [31]. The milepost system begins at a point between the Capes at milepost 0 and follows the main channel to the junction of the East and West branch in New York at Milepost 330.7 A secondary shipping channel, west of Pea Patch Island handles traffic to and from the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. A series of shoals or shallow water sand bars parallel the main shipping channel. Besides the main shipping channel, two natural channels parallel the main shipping route on either side of the bay. These natural channels are less defined, with average depth of 20 feet increasing to 80 feet between the Capes. In between the Capes, pockets of shoals can cause hazards conditions called “rips” during periods of strong tides currents and apposing wind. The underwater topography near the marshes is basically a flat shallow plane of 6 to 12 feet depth until it reaches the beginning of the natural channels, where it drops off rapidly on both northeast and southwest side of the inter bay. The Delaware Bay enjoys a continual exchange of water from the ocean and fresh water tributaries. Its neighbor, the longer and larger Chesapeake Bay has had more problems with aquatic disease, it is felt that the cause of this is due to the poorer water circulation in the Chesapeake’s estuary. The Delaware Bay also receives a net inflow of water from the Chesapeake due to the C&D Canal connection. I believe the Delaware Bay has a greater bottom relief than the Chesapeake making it a more desirable place to predict fish location. On the charts through out the Bay are areas of restricted fishing, like main shipping channels as will as old ordinance fields that populate the upper bay and lower river.
Weather, Waves and Brown Water of the Bay
The wave heights through out the bay can various greatly. A strong north-north-westerly wind of 20kts or more will easily create waves of 6 feet or greater at the lower entrance with the same results from a southeasterly wind on the upper end. During periods of winds of 10kt or less from the west or east, you can expect an average of three feet waves across the Bay. On the approach of slow moving northeasterly storms from the south, one can expect heavy swell action at the capes and large fan shaped wave trains spreading up into the Bay. The Cape May Peninsula will shield strong wave action after the passage of such storms. The most dangerous spot is in between the capes. With the right combination of tidal changes and wind, 3 to 6 foot waves with very short wave periods can develop between the capes. When a typical low tracks eastward from the west with an accompanying cold front, one can expect strong wave action in the ocean from the north immediately after the passage of these cold fronts Fog banks in both Fall and Winter can be a hazard as well. Fog primarily in the fall can be created by a strong high pressure system to the east that will force light easterly winds at night creating thick low level fogs banks that can travel well inland for fifty miles and hang around for most of the morning.
When studying weather reports one must first determine if the wind speed is reported in miles per-hour or knots. Knots per hour will be a slightly lower number than miles per hours and can give someone a false sense of security before going out. Another common mistake people make is they relay on weather forecast from computer models based on land forecast. Because of the lower frictional drag effect of water, land computer models will forecast a lower wind speed than the marine models over open water. So many times wind forecast for the bay may be lower than the observed forecast based on land models and can lead hazardous situations for novices boaters. When looking at weather reports use the NOAA Marine weather for the bay. Thunderstorms are hazardous for any small craft, for the Delaware Bay thunderstorm tend to intensify when moving over the bay. The intensification is caused by increase moisture and lower level divergence of air form the ocean sea breeze. Within daylight hours, on the national weather radar maps look for a line of storm approaching the Chesapeake Bay from the west in Maryland. These cells will pick up moisture from the Chesapeake Bay and can be expected to double in size by the time they reach the Delaware Bay in the afternoon.
The Navy has a term for operational personnel and boats that work in coastal areas called “The Brown Water Navy”. The water color of the bay and lower river, like any inland water estuary changes routinely from black to deep blue with more regularity than the open ocean. Expect black to brown, water in the bay in times of high winds or after long periods of rain. Both high winds and rain will cause the turbidity of the water to increase, turning it brown. The beaches of the bay vary like the color of the water. At high tide, most are invisible. At low tide, the extremely short beaches become visible. The bay’s and the lower river sand, because of the high content of soil, have a softer texture (almost like silk) than ocean beach sand. The higher silt content makes the sand’s color more gold or brown in appearance than white ocean sand.
The other important feature of these estuary beaches is the ever present horizontal pile of tree trunks and floating objects, marking the upper limit of the high tide and the edge of sand and grass. Every flood carries tree limbs and floating debris, which collect on the upper edge of the tidal flow along the shores. This floating material, made by man or by nature, builds a natural levee that over time gradually added to the formation of more wet grassland and land. Without floods and flood debris our grass land estuary would be different. The success of the any saltwater fishery comes from the estuary. As one progresses seaward the vegetation of the marshes begins to change in appearance from the tall fresh and brackish water grass marshes parries to the short stubby flat grasses of salt water. This contrast in vegetation can be easily observed in the marsh land behind the barrier islands of the coast. After a mile from an open channel the grasses begin to get taller with a more ragged appearance. This type of vegetation diversity is caused by different levels of salinity. It common to see a line of dead trees, at the limits of the grass lines which is a signal of saltwater intrusion which was caused by the deterioration of the former dikes used in marshgrass farming. Generally the first lines of trees are cedar trees that later blend into a mixture of hard and soft wood forest. An estuary that demonstrates diversity in vegetation will produce diversity in fish and wildlife. Each fish type has different requirements for life and reproduction. Some fish will travel well into the fresh water, others prefer the shorter trip in the brackish bays to breed, and some like blue fish will just come in to eat. Every item of these flat green lands has a purpose. From the insects to larger aggressive fish - all are part of the chain.
Like blood vessels, the slow maundering channels provide an avenue to create a water and nutrient exchange between land and water. The ground acts like kidneys, it filters the excess nutrients or pollution, storing it and later release it slowly. The grass is the skin that holds the system together. It catches silt when the water floods, and the collected silt and debris become the banks. Many types of marine life, such as oysters are the enzyme agents that convert nutrients to food and later back to soil. The force that drives the exchange is an object we see daily but never seem to recognize its importance. Like the heart, the moon’s energy moves the blood of the estuary to and from the marshes and channels, flooding the land and carrying the food needed to sub stain the life of the marsh. Without this tidal force, our world saltwater fishery would be radically different. Without diversity, our ability to consistently withdraw a steady supply of food from the world’s oceans would stop. Without a steady supply of food from the sea, our geopolitical world and population distribution would not be what it is today.
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FISHING THE WIHITTUCK (DELAWARE) Jim S. McKay |
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THE DELAWARE BAY |
