This is the only reference in Smith’s work to the presence of sea grasses, called sub-aquatic vegetation by today’s scientists. Sea grasses were the nurseries of the Chesapeake, hiding and feeding a diversity of plant and animal life over hundreds of thousands of acres throughout the main stem of the Bay and the lower reaches of the many tidal rivers. The stingray is one such animal that feeds in the area of the sea grasses, such as off of Stingray point at the south shore mouth of the Rappahannock River. It was here that Smith was stung by the sharp tail of the sting ray, but washing of the wound by the surgeon, Russell, cleansed the poison and probably saved Smith’s life. Hurricane Agnes in 1972, with the tremendous flood of fresh water, chemicals and sediment, killed off many of the grass beds in the bay and rivers. They are today making a slow return, but are still a pale imitation of pre-1972 distribution, not to mention the distribution in 1608.