the sun retreats to the western horizon, casting long shadows over the nanticoke. a river system of serene splendor. individual, curvaceous, meandering. for a long time, the nanticoke remained undeveloped, its shorelines thick with forest, its waters one of the most productive for fishermen and pound netters. a place that inspires hope that chesapeake country will always look just as it does today. >> rhea: we have just seen some of the most stunning and dramatic hd images ever captured of the chesapeake bay. we've experienced her famous landmarks and natural wonders that still look as glorious and untouched as they did a thousand years ago. this production used the latest in state of the art high definition recording gear to capture these beautiful images. and i don't know about you but i think watching it was truly and exhilarating experience, and we truly hope that you enjoyed watching it as much as we did. we also hope that you're going to take the time in this very last intermission to call in and support not just this special, but all the shows you watch and

from the east; wicomico, choptank, nanticoke, pocomoke. and the west; the patapsco, potomac, patuxent and york, the rappahannock, the james. these are the rivers of colonial history, alive with fish, fowl, and crustacean. in springtime, pulsating with fish moving upstream from saltwater to spawn. few places anywhere on the bay are as haunting, and striking, as the blackwater national wildlife refuge. swirling geometry, jagged, irregular, green-gold marshscape, etched in sharp relief against brackish waters. admiring the smooth reflections in the bows and guts, it's easy to overlook, that down below, the blackwater is alive with birds, animals, insects and fish. the blackwater is a chief wintering area along the atlantic flyway. in the fall, these lands become a spectacle of canada geese, snow geese, tundra swan, ducks. in winter, the bald eagle nests. as a national wildlife refuge, the blackwater symbolizes the commitment to preserve the irreplaceable landscapes we treasure for future generations. the voyages of captain john smith charting