Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Large-Mouth Bass record broken!

Bad news for fishers who now have a higher mark to beat, but good news for this guy:

I was just doing some research about the fight in Maryland’s state legislature over funding Chesapeake Bay conservation, and I found a really cool website that has tons of information about local conservation efforts.

The site is http://cooperativeconservationamerica.org/ , the official site of Cooperative Conservation America, a group that organizes conservation projects across the country. For funsies, I typed in “maryland” under “search for a case study,” and found several interesting results:

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Conservation — Describes how the organization worked with the state government and local farmers to help ensure higher water quality in the Bay estuary.

Shoreline Stabilization in Chesapeake Bay Area — Really cool case study in how the Navy noticed shoreline erosion at some of their bases in the Bay area, and worked with conservation groups to help stabilize the problem.

Conserving Maryland’s Threatened Bog Turtles — Another project working with farmers, this one to restore habitat for the bog turtle, a local wetlands inhabitant. With a sadly broken link to bogturtles.com, which is apparently defunct.

Also, sorry that this has totally been the Chesapeake Bay Blog lately. I grew up near the bay, so the recent funding issues have been taking up a lot of space in my head, but I’m probably stretching the patience of those of you who want to hear about more Ocean City-relevant wildlife stuff. I promise I’ll have more dolphins and seagulls for you soon.

Maryland’s bald eagle population has made a huge comeback, according the the state’s Department of Natural Resources. At last weekend’s Eagle Festival, local bird enthusiasts celebrated findings that the species’ numbers in the state have increased nearly tenfold since the 1970s, when bald eagles were first put on the Endangered Species List. Now off the list and doing well, the eagles can be seen flying over the Chesapeake Bay, as well as inhabiting MD’s Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

Conservationists have recently used the bald eagle, only 41 pairs of which were found in Maryland at a low point 30 years ago, as an example of how conservation efforts can have a positive effect on endangered species. If you haven’t added a “baldy” to your bird-watching book yet, the chances are getting better and better that you’ll be able to do so without leaving the state!

Some of you Ocean City wildlife watchers may be following the story of Secca, the adorable harbor seal who washed up on OC’s 145th St. beach in January. Secca was injured and underweight when rescuers took her to the Baltimore Aquarium for rehabilitation. But after two months of expert care and plenty of feeding, she has gained 30 pounds, and will be released in Ocean City today.

Congratulations to the Baltimore Aquarium on this, their 80th (wow!) seal rescue.

(Credit for the adorable photo of Secca goes to Nancy Powell of Ocean City Today newspaper.)