Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay | |
---|---|
Location | Western Europe and Southern Europe |
Coordinates | 45°30′N 04°24′W / 45.500°N 4.400°W |
Type | Gulf |
Ocean/sea sources | Atlantic Ocean |
Basin countries | France and Spain |
Max. length | 593.7 km (368.9 mi) |
Max. width | 511.1 km (317.6 mi) |
Surface area | 223,000 km2 (86,000 sq mi) |
Average depth | 1,744 m (5,722 ft) |
Max. depth | 4,735 m (15,535 ft) |
Water volume | 389,000 km3 (93,000 cu mi) |
Salinity | 35 g/L |
The Bay of Biscay (
The average depth is 1,744 m (5,722 ft) and the greatest depth is 4,735 m (15,535 ft).[1]
Name
The Bay of Biscay is known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay (Spanish: Golfo de Vizcaya; Basque: Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (French: Golfe de Gascogne; Occitan: Golf de Gasconha; Breton: Pleg-mor Gwaskogn). Its English name comes from Biscay on the northern Spanish coast, probably standing for the western Basque districts (Biscay up to the early 19th century).
Geography
Parts of the continental shelf extend far into the bay, resulting in fairly shallow waters in many areas and thus the rough seas for which the region is known. Heavy storms occur in the bay, especially during the winter months. The Bay of Biscay is home to some of the Atlantic Ocean's fiercest weather; abnormally high waves occur there.[2] Up until recent years it was a regular occurrence for merchant vessels to founder in Biscay storms.
Extent
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bay of Biscay as "a line joining Cap Ortegal (43°46′N 7°52′W / 43.767°N 7.867°W) to Penmarch Point (47°48′N 4°22′W / 47.800°N 4.367°W)".[3]
The southernmost portion is the Cantabrian Sea.[4]
Rivers
The main rivers that empty into the Bay of Biscay are
.Climate
In late spring and early summer a large fog triangle fills the southwestern half of the bay, covering just a few kilometres inland.
As winter begins, weather becomes severe. Depressions enter from the west very frequently and they either bounce north to the
The Gulf Stream enters the bay following the continental shelf's border anti-clockwise (the Rennell Current), keeping temperatures moderate all year long.
Main cities
The main cities on the shores of the Bay of Biscay are
.History
The southern end of the gulf is also called "Mar Cantábrico" in Spanish (
The Bay of Biscay has been the site of many famous naval engagements over the centuries. In 1592 the Spanish defeated an English fleet during the
On 12 April 1970, Soviet submarine K-8 sank in the Bay of Biscay due to a fire that crippled the submarine's nuclear reactors. An attempt to save the sub failed, resulting in the death of forty sailors and the loss of four nuclear torpedoes. Due to the great depth (15,000 ft or 4,600 m), no salvage operation was attempted.[citation needed]
Wildlife
Plaiaundi Ecology Park
The Plaiaundi Ecology Park is a 24 -hectare coastal wetland lying where the Bidasoa River meets the sea in the Bay of Biscay.The nature of Plaiaundi consists of a wide variety of flora (visitors view them mainly in the spring) and fauna (visitors with binoculars arrive all during the year, because of the birds' migratory habits). This nature park contains a variety of birds, reptiles, mammals and insects.[8]
Marine mammals
The car ferries from
North Atlantic right whales, one of the most endangered species of whales, once came to the bay for feeding and probably for calving as well, but whaling activities by Basque people almost wiped them out sometime prior to the 1850s. The eastern population of this species are considered to be almost extinct, and there has been no record of right whales in the Bay of Biscay except for a pair in 1977 (possibly a mother and calf) at 43°00′N 10°30′W / 43.000°N 10.500°W,[9] and another pair in June 1980. Other records in the late 20th century include one off Galicia at 43°00′N 10°30′W / 43.000°N 10.500°W in September 1977 reported by a whaling company and another one seen off the Iberian Peninsula.
The best areas to see the larger cetaceans are in the deep waters beyond the continental shelf, particularly over the Santander Canyon and Torrelavega Canyon in the south of the Bay.
The alga Colpomenia peregrina was introduced and first noticed in 1906 by oyster fishermen in the Bay of Biscay.
Grammatostomias flagellibarba (scaleless dragonfish) are native to these waters.[10]
See also
References
- ^ "Bay of Biscay". Eoearth.org. Archived from the original on 2015-07-20. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
- ^ A Summary of Wave Data Needs and Availability: A Report. 1979. p. 7. Archived from the original on 2023-04-06. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
The Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras, the Gulf of Alaska, the English Channel, and the Bay of Biscay are some of the other areas where storms and current combine to produce abnormally high, steep waves.
- ^ "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition + corrections" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization. 1971. p. 42 [corrections to page 13]. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ VVAA (2012). "Estrategia marina. Demarcación marina Noratlántica. Parte I. Marco general evaluación inicial y buen estado ambiental" (PDF) (in Spanish). Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
- ^ "Why the Bay of Biscay is Dangerous for Ships?". Marine Insight. 2011-10-21. Archived from the original on 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- ^ "El mar de los vascos, II: del Golfo de Vizcaya al Mediterráneo" (PDF). Euskomedia.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-29. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
- ^ "USS Californian (1918–1918)". History.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 2004-12-24. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
- ^ "Plaiaundi Ecology Park | Plans to know the Basque Country | Tourism E…". archive.is. 2013-02-22. Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
- ^ Reeves, R.R. & Mitchell, E. (1986). "American pelagic whaling for right whales in the North Atlantic" (PDF). Report of the International Whaling Commission (Special Issue 10): 221–254. Retrieved 2013-10-09.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Froese, R.; D. Pauly, eds. (2016). "Grammatostomias flagellibarba". FishBase. Archived from the original on 2015-08-25.
External links
- . . 1914.