2025 Was a Good Year for Bay Grass

Almost certainly not Chesapeake Bay

From the Bay Journal, Chesapeake grass beds expand for fifth year in a row

Chesapeake Bay underwater grass beds expanded for the fifth consecutive year in 2025,
driven in large part by the surprising resurgence of underwater meadows in the lower Bay.

Underwater grasses provide critical habitat and are one of the most closely watched indicators of Bay health. Last year’s annual aerial survey found the most submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV, since 2018. The coverage was sixth highest reported since the survey began in 1984.

Grass beds generally increased throughout the Bay in 2025, but the best news came in the high-salinity areas in Virginia. That area had the most underwater grasses ever seen in the survey — surpassing the record set in 2024 by 13%.

“We are just exploding in the saltiest waters of the Chesapeake,” said Chris Patrick, a researcher with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science who oversees the survey. “The eelgrass is just doing phenomenal.”

Overall, the amount of SAV in the Bay and tidal portions of its tributaries increased by approximately 7% in 2025 compared with the same areas in 2024.

But the 82,968 acres mapped by the survey almost certainly undercounted the extent of the grasses by thousands of acres. Extended periods of poor weather, government shutdowns and restricted access to some sites limited aerial photography in some places, primarily in Virginia.

Those areas contained 6,417 acres of SAV in 2024. Assuming those sites had similar coverage in 2025, scientists estimate that the Baywide total in 2025 was likely closer to 89,385 acres.

2026 is likely to be a good year too, guessing from the weather.