Bay of Biscay

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There is also a bay in Florida named Biscayne Bay.

Map of the Bay of Biscay.

ESA photo, Phytoplankton bloom along the Bay of Biscay

The Bay of Biscay (Spanish: Golfo de Vizcaya; French: Golfe de Gascogne; Basque: Bizkaiko Golkoa) is a gulf of the North Atlantic Ocean. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain, and is named for the Spanish province of Biscay.

The southern end of the gulf is also called by the Spanish Cantabrian Sea, for the region of Cantabria. It was named by Romans in 1st century BC as Sinus Kantabrorum (Ocean of the Cantabri).

Biscay is also an area of the British Shipping Forecast, familiar to BBC Radio 4 listeners.

Parts of the continental shelf extend far into the bay, resulting in fairly shallow water in many areas which creates the rough seas the region is known for.

The British Yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur finished her first trip around the world here, and there is a famous song based on this.

[edit] Wildlife

The car ferries from Portsmouth to Bilbao and from Plymouth 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.

The best areas to see the larger cetaceans are those over deep water once the continental shelf has been left behind 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.