EESC in the News: Massive new study says ospreys are thriving in some parts of the Chesapeake Bay – but not enough
Saltier regions of the bay, such as Hampton Roads, are expected to see the biggest osprey declines.
By Katherine Hafner
WHRO Public Media, October 2, 2025
Researchers at William & Mary’s Center for Conservation Biology have spent years trying to understand what’s happening with ospreys in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition has pointed to statements by scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, which is also analyzing ospreys around the bay.
“It's important to keep in mind that there are many factors and stressors that can affect osprey reproduction,” Barnett Rattner with the USGS’ Eastern Ecological Science Center told members of a coastwide menhaden regulatory board last year.
That includes limited food availability, disease, changing climate conditions and water quality, he said.
Listen to the story on the WHRO Public Media website.