Pocomoke River

The morning sun filtered through the forest canopy like a stage light, drawing our attention to another bend in the river. We were making our way slowly upstream from Porters Crossing in a shallow channel at times not much wider than our canoes. Except for a woodpecker off in the distance, the only sound to be heard was the whoosh of paddles breaking the water.Were we experiencing the river much differently than the Pocomoke Indians who lived here three centuries ago? Probably not, although they were likely on the river searching for food.

An estimated 1 million dead fish were discovered yesterday in the lower Pocomoke River and one of its creeks. State officials believe it is the largest fish kill in Chesapeake Bay tributaries in a decade.Scientists said they suspect low oxygen is responsible rather than Pfiesteria piscicida, the toxic microorganism that afflicted fish, watermen and the state fishing industry in 1997."The immediate indication is this is not Pfiesteria," Gov. Parris N. Glendening said. "There are no lesions, and there are no fish in distress."

With August's sweltering temperatures, you may be experiencing reduced crab catches because of high algae growth decreasing the oxygen in the bay's deeper sections, making it harder for the creatures to survive.Crabs, less active to conserve energy, often retreat to shallow water, where oxygen levels, though abnormal, are higher.Because you must now crab in 4 to 6 feet of water, crabbing becomes somewhat tricky.You have to be careful not to tangle your equipment in the motor. Moving your equipment often helps in catching the inactive crustaceans and should result in between one and two bushels.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland scientists think the long, heavy rains that fell from February to June are the main reason the state's rivers were spared a major outbreak of Pfiesteria piscicida this year.The rains set off a cascade of changes that turned the Pocomoke River from a perfect breeding ground for the toxic microbe in 1997 into a place where Pfiesteria merely put in an appearance this year, Maryland Department of Natural Resources ecologist Robert Magnien said yesterday."These are the first ideas we have," Magnien said at a gathering of scientists and policy-makers at Georgetown University.

What's in a name?When it comes to a scary new ailment, the answer is: trouble.A team of Maryland physicians will publish the first scientific description tomorrow of the illness they linked to last summer's outbreaks of Pfiesteria. But their leaders says they decided against following tradition and naming the new syndrome after the place it was found for fear of stigmatizing the state.Dr. J. Glenn Morris, an epidemiologist with the University of Maryland, said the 13 authors of the paper, who include state officials, talked about calling the ailment Pocomoke River Syndrome.

Hoping to win more than a million dollars in federal cleanup money, state environmentalists have named 49 Maryland watersheds most in need of restoration, including Baltimore's Harbor and the Eastern Shore's Pocomoke River, where Pfiesteria is suspected of sickening watermen and killing thousands of fish last year.Also on the list is the Wye River, where a shellfishing ban goes into effect Sept. 28 because of high levels of bacteria.Other Baltimore metropolitan watersheds on the list include: the Jones Falls, Gwynns Falls, Severn River, the South River, the Patuxent River, the Little Patuxent River, Back River, Bush River and Swan Creek.

While North Carolinians scrambled to cope with their first major fish kill of the year, Maryland officials wondered how much time they have before Pfiesteria piscicida reappears here. A week? All summer, or longer?There's no way to predict Pfiesteria's behavior, said David Goshorn of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, but most of the conditions are right for a return of the toxic microbe to the waters of the Lower Eastern Shore.One crucial factor is lacking: abundant schools of menhaden, the oily, algae-eating fish that seem to transform Pfiesteria from a harmless algae to a toxin that can kill bay creatures and make people sick.

A FRIEND announced last week that he would no longer eat food from the Chesapeake Bay. I told him he was overreacting. Two days later, the Maryland Department of the Environment announced a halt to oyster harvesting in more of Pocomoke Sound because of fecal coliform bacteria levels there.Of course, the president of an Eastern Shore watermen's association says there are no oysters down there anyway; they haven't grown in the lower Pocomoke since 1985.So, in this case, we don't have to worry about the contamination because there aren't any oysters to contaminate.

The name of a toxic organism that causes fish lesions was incorrectly spelled in yesterday's editions. The organism is Pfiesteria piscicida.The Sun regrets the errors.A team of physicians from Johns Hopkins Hospital and University of Maryland Medical Center will examine eight watermen whose illnesses may be linked to contaminants in the Pocomoke River, where fish with sores have been found for nearly a year.The measure announced yesterday by Dr. Martin P. Wasserman, secretary of the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, is a step beyond what he promised watermen last weekend at a seminar in Salisbury sponsored by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

SHELLTOWN -- State officials reopened yesterday a 4.5-mile stretch of the Pocomoke River on the lower Eastern Shore for fishing, crabbing and other recreational uses."

Take away the boardwalk fries, the crowded streets, the saltwater taffy, the "I'm With Stupid" T-shirts, and what do you have? Pocomoke River State Park. Granted, there are some other trade-offs involved in swapping Ocean City for the greater Pocomoke City metropolitan area. But if you didn't get around to planning the specifics of a late-summer camping vacation (that is, lodging) until now and would still like to fish and hike, with a day trip or two to mingle with the boardwalk hordes, then the state park 25 miles south of Ocean City could be the answer.

Adventure should be shared. What would Lewis be without Clark? Mason minus Dixon? Hillary sans Norgay? Even that adventure stud Indiana Jones didn't go solo, although Harrison Ford once played Han Solo. But I digress. So when it came time to compete in the Maryland Park Service's new Park Quest contest, I expected to be at the helm of Team Spartacus, with three trusty friends by my side. Wishful thinking. Commitments - prior, last-minute and fabricated - reduced the hearty team to me. With apologies to Kirk Douglas, I was Spartacus.

An unexpected result of this summer's drought was an explosion of toxic algae linked to at least 15 fish kills in the Chesapeake Bay since July, according to a University of Maryland scientist. The microscopic organism, called karlodinium, is a peculiar bean-shaped predator with two whip-like arms. It thrives in the salinity that results when there is little rainfall and more ocean water enters the bay, said Allen Place, a biochemist at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute.

ON THE POCOMOKE RIVER -- Joseph Fehrer Jr. paddled through dirt-black water and past islands of gnarled roots to an ancient cypress tree. On one side of the colossus stretched 1,000 acres of farmland where a developer plans to build 2,170 homes, a grocery store, a movie theater and shops that would triple the population of Snow Hill. On the other side of the tree, across the Pocomoke River, sits a 9,300-acre nature preserve that Fehrer's father helped create to protect this rare and vanishing cypress swamp.

Driving across the flat farmlands of the Eastern Shore can seem boring, if not completely frustrating, on a busy summer day. Perhaps it is the price we feel we must pay to reach "more scenic" destinations such as Ocean City. But as the cornfields zoom by and the tires rumble over the hot highway asphalt, natural treasures are passed hardly noticed in the swamps and wetlands that hide beyond the trees and farms. The Pocomoke River, only a short diversion from the course to the sea, is such a treasure.

The algae Pfiesteria, blamed for memory loss among watermen during a 1997 outbreak in a Chesapeake Bay tributary, does not harm people routinely exposed to it at low levels, a study released yesterday concludes. The research by a team of scientists led by Dr. J. Glenn Morris, chairman of preventive medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, found that the microorganism is common throughout the Chesapeake Bay, from the Patapsco River near Baltimore to the Pocomoke River on the Eastern Shore.

Art in Bethesda The lowdown -- Instead of basking in the television's glow of Jason or Freddy Krueger marathons this Friday the 13th, take advantage of downtown Bethesda's monthly art walk. Showcasing work from 13 galleries, the event encourages patrons to browse the collections, shop for artwork and enjoy free refreshments. Beginning in March, free guided tours will be offered. If you go -- The 2006 Bethesda Art Walks kick off tomorrow night. The galleries welcome visitors between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. For more information and a list of participating galleries, call 301-215-6660 or visit be thesda.

SHELLTOWN, Md. - Eagles and ospreys and showers of bright warbler song. Mighty bald cypresses and hours of unbroken forest, studded with the blooms of wild azalea and native viburnum. From the quiet headwater swamps where we began to the wide open cordgrass marshes where we "took out" three days later, a recent kayak trip down the twisty old Pocomoke River was a joyous passage through spring. Less than a decade ago, such a trip might have been considered dangerous to one's health. The Pocomoke was on the list of America's most endangered rivers, and "For Sale" signs were posted along its banks.

QUEPONCO - Last week's thaw didn't seem much like fox-hunting weather, but you'd never know it watching two dozen members of the Wicomico Hunt Club on horseback chasing a noisy pack of hounds over flat fields of corn and soybean stubble and slogging down logging roads and trails in the woods. Some burned up precious vacation time; some are lucky enough to work Ocean City resort jobs with reduced hours during the off-season. Others are self-employed or retired, their time their own. However they manage it, every Wednesday and Sunday from Thanksgiving to Easter, come rain, snow - or, worse yet, temperatures in the 70s - hard-core fox hunters will be following the hounds.

A fish pest previously unknown to science has been found infesting menhaden taken from the site of Maryland's most notorious fish kill: the 1997 Pfiesteria outbreak on the Pocomoke River. U.S. Department of Agriculture fish pathologist Renata Reimschuessel found the unnamed attacker while using a high-powered microscope to look at Pocomoke River menhaden found with bloody sores. Alongside the newly discovered cells she also found the distinctive four-petaled spores of a previously known parasite, called kudoa, which sometimes infests menhaden and its relatives, alewives and Atlantic herrings.