Bay of Biscay

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The Bay of Biscay (Spanish: Golfo de Vizcaya; French: Golfe de Gascogne; Basque: Bizkaiko golkoa; Breton: Pleg-mor Gwascogn; Gascon: Golf de Gasconha) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish Basque Country.

The average depth is 1,744 metres (5,722 ft) and maximum depth is 2,789 metres (9,150 ft).

Geography

Bathymetric map of the Bay and its surroundings

Spanish coast along the Bay of Biscay

Phytoplankton bloom along the Bay of Biscay (photograph by Terra (EOS AM-1) satellite)

Biarritz Beach (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)

Parts of the continental shelf extend far into the bay, resulting in fairly shallow water in many areas and thus cause the rough seas for which the region is known. The Bay of Biscay is home to some of the Atlantic Ocean's fiercest weather. Large storms occur in the bay, especially during the winter months. Up until recent years it was a regular occurrence for merchant vessels to founder in Biscay storms, and many lives were lost. Improved ships and weather prediction have reduced the toll of the 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 / 43.767; -7.867) to Penmarch Point (47°48′N 4°22′W / 47.8°N 4.367°W / 47.8; -4.367)".^[1]

Rivers

The main rivers that empty into the Bay of Biscay are:

• France (north to south): Loire, Charente, Garonne, Dordogne, Adour, Nivelle.
• Spain (east to west): Bidasoa, Oiartzun, Urumea, Oria, Urola, Deba, Artibai, Oka, Nervión, Agüera, Asón, Miera, Pas, Saja, Nansa, Deva, Nalón, Navia, Eo, Landro, Sor.

Weather

As in many west coasts, the phenomenon of June Gloom is common. 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 British Isles or they enter the Ebro Valley, dry out, and are finally reborn in the form of powerful thunderstorms as they reach the Mediterranean Sea. These depressions cause severe weather at sea and bring light though very constant rain to its shores (known as orballo, sirimiri, morrina or calabobos in northern Spain). Sometimes powerful windstorms form if the pressure falls rapidly, traveling along the Gulf Stream at great speed, resembling a hurricane, and finally crashing in this bay with their maximum power, such as the Klaus storm.

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:

• France: Brest, Nantes, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Biarritz.
• Spain: Donostia-San Sebastián, Bilbao, Santander, Gijón, Avilés.

History

The southern end of the gulf is also called in Spanish "Mar Cantábrico" (Cantabrian Sea), from the Estaca de Bares, as far as the mouth of Adour river, but this name is not generally used in English. It was named by Romans in the 1st century BC as Sinus Cantabrorum (Bay of the Cantabri), more frequently, Mare Gallaecum.

On some medieval maps, the Bay of Biscay is marked as El Mar del los Vascos (the Basque Sea). The Bay of Biscay is the birthplace of what is considered one of the world's most successful and most renowned maritime industries, the Basque and Cantabrian shipbuilders and fishermen.

Wildlife

The coast of the Bay of Biscay – San Juan de Gaztelugatxe (Biscay)

The car ferries from Gijón to Nantes/Saint-Nazaire, Portsmouth to Bilbao and from Plymouth, Portsmouth and Poole to Santander provide one of the most convenient ways to see cetaceans in European waters, and there are often specialist trips on board. Volunteers and employees of Biscay Dolphin Research regularly observe and monitor cetacean activity from the bridge of the ships on the P&O Ferries Portsmouth to Bilbao route. Many species of whales and dolphins can be seen in this area but it is one of the few places where the beaked whales such as the Cuvier's beaked whale have been observed relatively frequently. This is the best study area for beaked whales in the world.

The best areas to see the larger cetaceans lie in the deep waters beyond the continental shelf, particularly over the Santander Canyon and Torrelavega Canyon in the south of the Bay.

The three-day round trip also gives sightings of good numbers of several species of seabirds, particularly gannets.

The alga Colpomenia peregrina was introduced and first noticed by oyster fishermen in the Bay of Biscay in 1906.

See also

• Biscay, the name of one of the sea areas of the British Shipping Forecast.

References

Coordinates: 45°30′N 04°20′W / 45.5°N 4.333°W / 45.5; -4.333