Delaware Bay
| Delaware Bay | |
|---|---|
| Waters | Atlantic Ocean |
| Land mass | North America |
| Geographical location | 39 ° 4 ′ N , 75 ° 10 ′ W |
 |
|
| surface | 2 030 km² |
| Tributaries | Delaware River |
The Delaware Bay is an estuary on the Atlantic coast of the United States of America .
The estuary of the Delaware River has an area of 782 square miles (2,030 square kilometers) and is of Cape May (State New Jersey ) and Cape Henlopen ( Delaware limited). The banks are flat and are largely formed by mud flats and salt marshes .
In addition to the eponymous river, other bodies of water flow into the bay:
in the state of Delaware:
- Christina River
- Appoquinimink River
- Leipsic River
- Smyrna River
- St. Jones River
- Murderkill River
in the state of New Jersey:
- Salem River
- Cohansey River
- Maurice River
The brackish water and the surrounding banks serve both water birds and many marine life as a nursery, and oyster farming is of economic importance. Delaware Bay is also an area rich in sea birds. During train times, for example, hundreds of thousands of sand beach walkers gather here .
Unlike on the other side of the adjacent Delmarva Peninsula located Chesapeake Bay Delaware Bay is not crossed by a bridge. Instead, US Highway 9 runs from Cape May (New Jersey) to Lewes (Delaware) via a ferry .