Thursday, September 15, 2011

satellites and silt

I just found this NASA eye in the sky site through the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.  You can easily see the silt moving down Chesapeake Bay.  The top photo is from September 12, the silt is off of Taylor's Island.


The bottom image is from two days later, September 14.  The silt has moved down to mid-Bay between the mouth of the Potomac River and Smith Island.  Mid-Bay the silt does not appear as dense (not sure if that is the right word for it), but it is definitely there.


The silt appears to be moving past Tangier Sound, but I suspect the tides are pulling a little bit in past the islands.  Plan B - the Honga River, Tangier Sound and Pocomoke Sound - might be the way to go.  I sailed to the edge of Pocomoke Sound a few years ago, anchoring at Great Fox Island.  I need to research the area tonight.  Right now all I know is that there is a town called Saxis with a restaurant called the Marshtump Cafe.  Sounds interesting.

steve
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 15, 2011 at 2:51 PM

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  2. EyeInHandSeptember 16, 2011 at 11:43 PM

    When I worked at the Dept. of Conservation in Richmond on Bay projects, we had a big satellite photo poster on the wall. This was mid 1980's, so things like that were less commonplace. It showed the sediment swath bleeding out of the Susquehanna, and all the other rivers, too, after hurricane Agnes. The whole main stem of the Bay was the color of mud as far south as the the James, where it was diluted by ocean tides. It took more than a decade to recover from the effects of that.

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 19, 2011 at 10:23 AM

    I've read accounts on sailing forums of people encountering propane tanks, tree stumps and other vegetative debris, lumber, and "parts of houses" floating in the Bay.

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