News
Study: Tiny bacteria could "eat" water-borne microplastics
2+ hour, 38+ min ago (498+ words) Researchers added a stain to a microplastic bead to see the microbes that formed on its surface after incubating in Virginia's York River. (Kelley Uhlig) A study published in 2025 in the journal FEMS Microbiology Ecology found that certain microbes that…...
Chesapeake crab population rallies a bit from long-term slump
23+ hour, 2+ min ago (905+ words) A Maryland Department of Natural Resources biologist holds up a tiny juvenile crab while Mandy Bromilow, DNR crab program manager, records its information during the 2026 winter dredge survey. The Chesapeake Bay's blue crabs have clawed their way out of the…...
The art and joy of capturing bats " on film, of course | Steward's Corner | bayjournal. com
1+ day, 12+ hour ago (285+ words) A surveyor works quickly to identify a bat species in West Virginia's New Trout Cave to avoid disturbing the bat. A big brown bat rests in a state of torpor in West Virginia's New Trout Cave. Torpor is similar to…...
Start the season with the flashy, colorful American redstart
5+ day, 12+ hour ago (265+ words) A female redstart shows the signature tail flash. (Ryan Mandelbaum/CC BY-NC 2. 0) "A male American redstart. (Wildreturn/CC BY 2. 0) While American redstarts are usually monogamous, about 25% of the time the male may breed with more than one female. A pair…...
Lead paint flakes lead to $2. 2 million settlement in Maryland | Pollution & Solutions | bayjournal. com
1+ week, 12+ hour ago (382+ words) Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown speaks at an April 9 press conference announcing a $2. 2 million settlement after the state says a painting project on a Baltimore TV tower showered lead onto the community below. (Courtesy of Maryland Attorney General's Office) An…...
Naturalist's boat becomes fish habitat in Chesapeake Bay
1+ week, 1+ day ago (391+ words) The Waterfront Development Corporation hauls the sailboat Freya on April 10, 2026, to Windmill Point, VA, where it would be used to create an artificial reef. (Virginia Marine Resources Commission) The reefs provide shelter and places for organisms to hide from predators....
Resident geese: invited guests that never went home
1+ week, 3+ day ago (804+ words) A Canada goose sits on her nest in the parking lot of an Appleby's restaurant in Fairfax County, VA. (F. A. Martin/CC BY-SA 4. 0) The October sunset was casting shadows, 70 years ago. Dad rose from his easy chair and stepped to the…...
Pennsylvania again led nation in dam removals for 2025
1+ week, 4+ day ago (232+ words) The Oakland Dam is removed from the North Branch of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania in September 2023." Pennsylvania led the nation in dam removals last year, accounting for 14 of the 100 dams removed nationwide, according to a recent report from the…...
Chesapeake blue crab population drops 50%. The question is: Why?
1+ week, 4+ day ago (1207+ words) Note: This article has been update to provide additional det" The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has delayed " Freshly caught blue crabs sit in a steel basket at J. M. Clayton Co. in Cambridge, MD." The Chesapeake Bay's blue crab population has declined…...
Army Corps awards contract for James Island restoration in Maryland
1+ week, 6+ day ago (221+ words) Water laps fragments of James Island in the Chesapeake Bay in September 2020." Preparations are beginning to rebuild James Island, all but lost years ago beneath the waves of the Chesapeake Bay. The Baltimore District of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers…...