High bacteria counts recorded in county waters after the recent rains underscore the potential dangers of swimming or any water contact following rainfall.

The annual South River Snapshot underscored troublesome conditions up and down the watershed and pinpointed similar hot spots for key pollutants.

The verdict is in and the mystery creature in the South River has been identified.

For months, through all of terrible snow and ice, hundreds of "oyster gradeners" dutifully tended their shellfish charges.

They checked them out, rinsed off sediment and algae and crossed their fingers for the baskets of oysters hanging from their docks.

The search is on for a possible alligator that was spotted swimming around a boathouse in Gingerville Creek this week.

As leaders of the official Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort meet in Baltimore on Thursday, a growing chorus of activists is calling for stronger government action.

It could be back to the beginning for Dobbins Island.

Underwater grasses continue to grow in the Chesapeake Bay, with a 12 percent baywide increase in grass beds in 2009.

Local conservationists praise quick action by the county to repair a broken sewer line fouling a recently restored creek bed, but worry similar infrastructure damage could be contributing more pollution than suspected in local waterways.