
Map of the Bay of Biscay.
The
Bay of Biscay (Spanish: Golfo de Vizcaya and
Mar Cantábrico; French:
Golfe de Gascogne
;
Basque: Bizkaiko Golkoa;
Gascon: Golf de Gascougne)
or the Cantabrian Sea 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
Punta de Estaca
de Bares
, and is named for the Spanish province of Biscay.
The average depth is and maximum depth is .
Geography
Parts of the
continental shelf
extend far into the bay, resulting in fairly shallow water in many
areas and thus in 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.
Rivers
The main rivers that end in the Bay of Biscay are:
- France
(named southward): Loire
, Charente
, Garonne
, Dordogne
, Adour
, Nivelle.
- Spain
(named westward): Bidasoa
, Oiartzun, Urumea
, Oria, Urola
, Deba, Artibai, Oka, Nervion
, 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
arefinally reborn in the form of powerful thunderstorms as they
reach the Mediterranean. These depressions cause severe weather at
sea and bring light though very constant rain to its shores (known
as
orballo 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 its
maximum power, such as the
Klaus
storm.
The
Gulf Stream enters the bay following
the continental shelf's border counterclockwise (the Rennell
Current), keeping temperatures smooth 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 in Spanish "Mar
Cantábrico" (Cantabrian Sea), for the region of Cantabria
, but this name is not generally used in
English. It was named by Romans in 1st century BC as
Sinus Cantabrorum (Bay of the
Cantabri).
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.
The
British
yachtswoman
Ellen MacArthur finished her first
trip around the world here, and there is a famous song based on
this.
Wildlife
The car
ferries from 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 from the
Biscay
Dolphin Research Programme use the bridge of the vessel on the
P&O Portsmouth to Bilbao run to
observe and monitor cetacean activity. 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 are those over deep
water off 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.
References