Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) mapped at Cape Charles
Source: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Bay Grasses (SAV) in Chesapeake Bay and Delmarva Peninsula Coastal Bays
Though forests and pastures are the most obvious vegetation to "landubbers" in Virginia, the underwater grasses in the Chesapeake Bay are being monitored very closely by those trying to measure if we
are "saving" or "losing" the Chesapeake Bay.
The Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) is the basis for bringing back the crabs, the oysters, the fish, and the cultural patterns that were based on harvesting the food from the Chesapeake Bay. Once the SAV is restored, in theory the number of critters that graze on the SAV will increase - and then the larger animals that eat the grazing critters (such as crabs and rockfish) will have more food. The initial hesapeake Bay Agreement goal, at "Tier 1," was "Restoration of SAV to areas previously vegetated, as mapped through regional and baywide aerial surveys between 1971 to 1990."