MPT's Chesapeake Bay Week

In 2021, MPT’s Chesapeake Bay Week celebrates the nation’s largest estuary with a broad collection of programs and films guaranteed to inspire, entertain, and educate. 

On Tuesday, April 20th at 8pm, plunge beneath the brackish waters of the Bay to discover a diverse and vibrant ecosystem, home to more than 3,600 unique, mesmerizing and often, quite charming Creatures of the Chesapeake.  This enchanting half-hour special offers an intimate look at some of the most fascinating species in the Chesapeake Bay, the iconic and the overlooked. Macro photography allows a rare view of these creatures as they move, breathe, eat and reproduce. Watch a lined seahorse stalk its prey, marvel at the simple elegance of the moon jellyfish as it glides through the water, and listen for the distinctive foghorn sound of the oyster toadfish.

Activists, officials, and experts on Chesapeake Bay health and cleanup convene on Wednesday, April 21st at 8pm for The Chesapeake Bay Summit 2021, a compelling discussion about those threats - serious, on-going issues like pollution, overfishing, and disease - and what can be done about them. More than a decade ago the federal government set a 2025 deadline to meet certain clean water goals, or else. Though progress has been made in keeping pollutants out of tributaries that feed the Bay, a combination of factors such as a lack of regulatory enforcement by states, accelerating impacts of climate change, and the effects of COVID-19 are hindering long-standing efforts. Host Frank Sesno drives this important conversation. 

Power of the Paddle, premiering Saturday, April 24th, chronicles one man’s grueling voyage across the length of the Bay on a standup paddleboard in an effort to raise money for oyster restoration. A difficult feat for even the most well-conditioned athlete, the film follows this physically and emotionally challenging...some might say crazy...journey from Havre de Grace, Maryland in the north to where the Bay meets the open ocean near Cape Henry, Virginia. 

Gatherings, the latest documentary from Academy Award-nominated director James Spione, premieres on MPT April 21st at 7pm. The film, produced before COVID-19 profoundly altered the social landscape of America, explores the deep cultural significance of local gathering places to rural coastal Virginia. 

Check out our Chesapeake Bay Week listings from April 18th through April 24th for other programs we’ve selected just for you to learn more about the Bay, and to celebrate our Chesapeake heritage. 

You can also stream select programs  previously featured during Chesapeake Bay Week.

Added bonus! Don't miss our programming extra, Together We Will Bring the Shad Fish Back, available to watch now.