The Bay

An entire ecosystem is revealed in this work; a look inside a true "natural wonder", the Chesapeake Bay. I picked up this nature/local interest book at a small store on Smith Island, Maryland, and began reading it on the boat trip back to Crisfield. I found "The Bay" to be a surprising page-turner -- along with detailed descriptions of the life cycles of familiar wildlife such as ospreys, eagles and great blue herons, and the ubiquitous Maryland blue crabs and jellyfish, there are facets of bay life in this book which I'd never even considered -- sea creatures that light up with natural phosphorescence, animals that regress as they develop from infancy to adulthood, and one beautifully descriptive chapter entitled "The Chesapeake Marshes" which came alive as I read it! I loved this book! One need not be a scientist nor a naturalist to appreciate this superbly written tribute to one of the most beautiful places on earth. The final chapter, "Compensation", clearly illustrates the symbiotic relationships of living creatures within an ecosystem and their interdependence upon one another for the continuation of life, not only in the Chesapeake Bay region, but as a representation of life systems everywhere. The writing was spellbinding; Mr. Klingel wrote so well that I found myself reading on and on for the sheer pleasure of experiencing his words. Although "The Bay" was written nearly 50 years ago, its story is as timeless as the nature it so aptly describes.