Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, bounded on the northeast by New Jersey and on the southwest by Delaware. From its mouth, a channel about 19 km (about 12 mi) wide between Cape May, N.J., and Cape Henlopen, Del., it extends generally northwest to the mouth of the estuary of the Delaware River. Its length is 80 km (50 mi) and its width ranges from about 6 km (about 4 mi) at the point of its confluence with the Delaware River estuary to 50 km (30 mi) at its central portion. The depth of the bay varies from 9 to 18 m (30 to 60 ft). In addition to the Delaware River, it receives the waters of numerous streams and creeks of New Jersey and Delaware. The bay has few natural harbors, but Delaware Breakwater, at Cape Henlopen, provides Lewes, Delaware, with an excellent protected anchorage. Delaware Bay is the natural route followed by shipping to and from Wilmington, Del., Philadelphia, Camden, N.J., and Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore and other points on Chesapeake Bay are reached by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, a sea-level, inland waterway navigable by deep-draft vessels. The waters of Delaware Bay yield large annual catches of oysters, clams, crabs, and lobsters.