Jiaozhou Bay

Geography and ecology[edit]

Jiaozhou Bay is a natural inlet of the Yellow Sea, with a depth of 10 to 15 metres (33 to 49 ft) and deeper, dredged channels to three major ports around the bay: Qingdao, Huangdao, and Hongdao, all of which are ice-free during winter.


The bay is located on the southern coast of the Shandong Peninsula in East China, and separates Huangdao District from Qingdao City and borders on Jiaozhou City.


The bay is 32 kilometres (17 nmi; 20 mi) long and 27 kilometres (15 nmi; 17 mi) wide with a surface area of 362 square kilometres (106 sq nmi; 140 sq mi), approximately two-thirds the area of 100 years ago. According to official data,^[1] the surface area has decreased from 560 square kilometres (163 sq nmi; 216 sq mi) in 1928 to 362 square kilometres (106 sq nmi; 140 sq mi) by 2003 due to sustained land reclamation activities in recent decades.


The marine species have also decreased by two-thirds during the last 50 years^[2] due to urban and industrial development and growth of adjacent areas around the bay. Out of 170 species of organisms found in the northwestern part of the basin during the 1970s, only 17 were found in 1989.^[3] False killer whales still occasionally appear in the waters which were a regular range for the species until the 1980s.^[4] On the other hand, Jiaozhou Bay may serve as a suitable location for studying recoveries of coastal marine ecosystems.^[5]