Maryland Coastal Bays Program

08/18/2026

UPDATE WAIT LIST ONLY as of 8/18 8:50pm

Join Maryland Coastal Bays Program next Tuesday, August 25th, for a free community boat tour along the Coastal Bays from 5pm-7pm.

The Maryland Coastal Bays Program is a National Estuary Program and while we celebrate the beauty and importance of our estuaries every year, this year is special as we are celebrating our 30th anniversary! Come experience the natural beauty of the Coastal Bays from the water and the bayside at the north end of Assateague Island National Seashore! While this boat tour is free, space is limited so registration is required! Register using the link below or click the link in our bio to secure your spot today!

https://forms.gle/gc3mQdS4z3yq7pr96

08/18/2026

Join Maryland Coastal Bays Program next Tuesday, August 25th, for a free community boat tour along the Coastal Bays from 5pm-7pm.

The Maryland Coastal Bays Program is a National Estuary Program and while we celebrate the beauty and importance of our estuaries every year, this year is special as we are celebrating our 30th anniversary! Come experience the natural beauty of the Coastal Bays from the water and the bayside at the north end of Assateague Island National Seashore! While this boat tour is free, space is limited so registration is required! Register using the link below to secure your spot today!

https://forms.gle/gc3mQdS4z3yq7pr96

08/07/2026

Last month our education team went to a Worcester County Professional Development with Chesapeake Bay Foundation. It was a great time with great people. We are excited for our next professional development at Virginia Institute of Marine Science this upcoming week!

08/07/2026

The Newport Bay partnership gears up to enter it's second year of restoration and conservation work within the Newport Bay watershed. Click through the photos to see some of the work that has been completed and will happen this year!

Read more on Year Two: https://baysideoc.net/newport-bay-partnership-to-continue-restoration-efforts/

The Newport Bay Partnership is a collaborative between the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, Assateague Coastal Trust, Lower Shore Land Trust, the Town of Berlin, and Worcester County Government. Funding comes from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

08/05/2026

Happy National Oyster Day! 🦪 Did you know that MCBP runs an oyster gardening program? Each year our oyster gardening volunteers are given baby oysters to grow and take care of for a full year. Those oysters are then collected by MCBP staff and placed at various restoration sites throughout the watershed. We also conduct monitoring at the ALS living shoreline annually to see changes in oyster density and sizing over the years.

Oysters are an important filter feeder to our bays. They also provide habitat and act as a food source for many species living in our watershed!

08/04/2026

MCBP would like to give a special shout out and thank you to Ocean Downs Casino for their incredible generosity and Osprey level sponsorship for our 30th Anniversary. 🎉 This amazing contribution of $11,100 will help MCBP continue its mission of protecting, conserving, and restoring our beautiful estuary. We are so grateful for this support and can’t wait to celebrate our 30th Anniversary with you at An Evening on the Estuary!

08/03/2026

Journey up the coast was a great success!

On July 9, the community got together to explore the Delaware Inland Bays with DE Center for the Inland Bays and Maryland Coastal Bays, where they got to learn all about water quality of the bays including salinity, nitrogen levels, and more (photos 1-5).

On July 30th, we adventured on the Maryland Coastal Bays, where families and individuals got to learn all about the fish and other creatures of the bay by using hand nets and seine nets (photos 6-10)!

Overall, there were 102 people that came out to learn about the bays! Thank you to DE Center for the Inland Bays and everyone that came out!

07/30/2026

Wow! It's been a week filled with generousity over here at the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. A huge thank you to the wonderful folks at the Marlin Club Crew of OC for their donation towards MCBP's aquatic eduation programs. We are looking forward towards purchasing more local identificaiton guides and a dissecting scope to get a closer look at local fish, sand, and algaes!

07/28/2026

Congrats to the Beaches, Bays, Water Ways - Beach to Bay Heritage Area on their award for increasing outdoor access!
Read more at: https://www.wmdt.com/2026/07/beach-to-bay-heritage-receives-grant-to-expand-outdoor-recreation-access/

"We are honored to work alongside Beach to Bay Heritage Area on this meaningful project. Through these outdoor excursions, we will be able to practice placed-based learning, immersing the participants in their local environment and strengthening their bonds to the natural world. By connecting local systems to an individual’s lived experience, we hope to increase curiosity and investment in community heritage and environmental wellbeing." -Liz Wist, Education Coordinator, MCBP

The Beach to Bay Heritage Area was recently awarded a Community Reinvestment and Repair Grant from the Worcester County Local Management Board to enhance access to outdoor recreation for at-risk and low-income residents in the 21811. This initiative will reduce barriers for underserved individuals and families, including Latino and Hispanic families, with limited access to outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking, and paddling while promoting healthier lifestyles.

By creating a welcoming and accessible environment to experience the beautiful nature of the local area, the Beach to Bay Heritage Area hopes to foster healthier habits, strengthen appreciation for our natural assets, and improve access to outdoor recreation for all residents that call this area home.

This project will include multilingual brochures, trailhead signage, and short-form educational videos to cultivate a sense of place and connection to the natural landscape as well as encouraging responsible outdoor recreation practices.

Additionally, the Beach to Bay Heritage Area will be partnering with the Maryland Coastal Bays Program to offer guided boating experiences which will engage participants in hand-on learning opportunities.

This exciting new project reflects BBHA's ongoing commitment to connect people with the history, culture, and landscapes of Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore through accessible education, partnerships, and community engagement for everyone. Learn more about this project and other BBHA programs at beachesbayswaterways.org.

Photo Credit: Maryland Coastal Bays Program

07/27/2026

Campers had a great time last week at Estuary Explorers camp where they were able to learn about the animals in the bays, investigate water quality and the health of the Maryland Coastal Bays, go kayaking, and more! We can’t wait until our August Estuary Explorers Camp!