Watch Chesapeake: The Twilight Estuary

A detective story about the investigation of an environmental mystery: What was killing the seagrasses in the Chesapeake Bay, the country's largest and richest estuary? Beneath the surface of the Chesapeake Bay, in a twilight world where shafts of light barely pierce the water, a blanket of seagrasses once flourished. These grassbeds were feeding grounds for geese and wild swans and ducks. They harbored fish and soft-shelled crabs, creating a nursery ground and habitat. But all around the estuary, a dozen species of seagrass began disappearing. Geese began feeding on farm fields instead of on grasses, ducks were soon dwindling, and the Bay's legendary productivity began to fade. What was killing the grasses? And what did the great dieoff mean for the health of all the Bay's living plants and animals? When scientists began investigating, they came up with some unexpected answers that changed our understanding of the Chesapeake. A perennial favorite with teachers of environmental studies, The Twilight Estuary is an unusually sophisticated and accessible science film. A Maryland Sea Grant film, written and directed by Michael W. Fincham

Chesapeake: The Twilight Estuary is a 2014 documentary with a runtime of 40 minutes.