Expert Says Fish Can Adapt To Hot Temperatures In Chesapeake Bay
By Kim Glovas
CHESAPAKE BAY, MD. (CBS) - While ocean temperatures at the Jersey Shore have been a little chilly lately just to the south, in the Chesapeake Bay, the water has been almost hot.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration buoys recorded the temperature in the Chesapeake Bay last weekend at 85 degrees.
Doctor Bob Wood, an expert on coastal ocean science and climatology, says however, fish, such as the Striped Bass which is native to the bay area, can adapt to the warmer water.
"Striped bass, which are cooler water species, don't do particularly well with very warm waters. During the middle summer and late summer when both adults from the coastal ocean may be in the bay for feeding purposes, and the juveniles, who reside in Chesapeake Bay, encounter these temperatures, they do in fact go deeper in the water," he explains.
Wood says we're past the midpoint of summer, and the nights are getting cooler, so the water temperatures should moderate soon.
For more information, visit: www.photolib.noaa.gov.
