Deal Island is Sinking into the Chesapeake Bay

50 State Roadtrip Ep. 16
Breakfast at Old Ferry's Landing - Assateague Island
Exploring Deal Island - Eastern Shore MD
Camping - Furnace Town
Music - Epidemic Sounds
November 2021

Deal Island was known as Devil’s Island in the 1600s. With a population 350, Deal Island is the home port for many Bay watermen and hosts a 60yr annual skipjack race.

The average elevation is low — about 3 to 4 feet. The frequent flooding devastates the meadows. Over time, the water spreads into the surrounding marsh, and another piece of the island is gone forever.

As global sea levels continue to climb, the bay water could grow 2 feet by 2050 and another 3 feet or more by 2100. At that point, Deal Island would be almost entirely submerged.

Maryland has a $1.2 million restoration project backed by residents: installing physical barriers along the western shoreline so that water surges from Tangier Sound are slowed before they come ashore.

Understandably, many residents don’t want to leave. They don’t want the government to tell them they should leave and they want to maintain their way of life for as long as they can.

source: https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/deal...