Chincoteague Bay () is a

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

between the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...

s of

Assateague Assateague Island is a long barrier island located off the eastern coast of the Delmarva Peninsula facing the Atlantic Ocean. The northern two-thirds of the island are in Maryland, and the southern third is in Virginia. The entire island is ...

and Chincoteague and the mainland of

Worcester County, Maryland Worcester County is the easternmost county of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 52,460. Its county seat is Snow Hill. The county is part of the Lower Eastern Shore region of the state. It is the only cou ...

, and northern

Accomack County, Virginia Accomack County is a United States county that, together with Northampton County, constitutes the Eastern Shore region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. These two counties also form the southern portion of the Delmarva Peninsula, which is bo ...

. At the bay's northern end, where it narrows between Assateague and Sinepuxent Neck, it becomes Sinepuxent Bay; Chincoteague Bay's southern end drains into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

via Queen Sound and Chincoteague Inlet. No major river flows into Chincoteague Bay—its largest tributaries are Newport Creek in Worcester County and Swans Gut Creek in Accomack County. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chincoteague Bay was well known for its shellfish industry, which shipped

oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of Seawater, salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in Marine (ocean), marine or Brackish water, brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly Calcification, calcified, a ...

crabs Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the thorax. Their exoskeleton is often thickened and ha ...

, and

clams Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams h ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. The shellfish industry was based in several landings and small towns: Taylors Landing at

Girdletree, Maryland Girdletree is a census-designated place in Worcester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 149 at the 2010 census.
"G ...

, George Island Landing at

Stockton, Maryland Stockton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Worcester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 92 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Stockton, originally cal ...

, and Franklin City and Greenbackville in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Girdletree, Stockton, and Franklin City were all on the now-defunct southern end of what is today the

Maryland and Delaware Railroad The Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company is a Class III railroad, Class III short-line railroad, formed in 1977 to operate several branch lines of the former Penn Central Railroad in both Maryland and Delaware, United States. These branches wer ...

that ran south from

Snow Hill, Maryland Snow Hill is a town in and the county seat of Worcester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,156 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Snow Hill was founded ...

Overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing Fish stocks, fish stock), resu ...

depleted shellfish stocks, which have still not recovered. Currently, the largest settlements on the Bay are Public Landing, Maryland, Greenbackville, Captain's Cove (a planned residential community near Greenbackville), and the town of Chincoteague. The bay is an important stop on the

Atlantic Flyway The Atlantic Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in North America. The route generally starts in Greenland, then follows the Atlantic coast of Canada, then south down the Atlantic Coast of the United States to the tropical ...

. The E.A. Vaughn Wildlife Management Area and parts of the Sinepuxent Bay Wildlife Management Area are located on the Maryland portion of the Bay, and the

Assateague Island National Seashore Assateague Island National Seashore is a unit of the National Park Service system of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Located on the East Coast along the Atlantic Ocean in Maryland and Virginia, Assateague Island is the largest natural bar ...

and

Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife preserve operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It is primarily located on the Virginia half of Assateague Island with portions (only about ...

form its eastern shore.

References

External links

Chincoteague Bay watershed profile
Bays of Maryland Bays of Virginia Lagoons of the United States Bodies of water of Accomack County, Virginia Bodies of water of Worcester County, Maryland Chincoteague, Virginia {{AccomackCountyVA-geo-stub