Bay of Biscay
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The Bay of Biscay (Spanish: Golfo de Vizcaya; French: Golfe de Gascogne; Basque: Bizkaiko Golkoa; Occitan: Golf de Gasconha) 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.
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[edit] Geography
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.
[edit] Rivers
The main rivers that end in the Bay of Biscay are:
- France: Loire, Charente, Garonne, Dordogne, Adour.
- Spain: Bidasoa, Oria, Urola , Nervión, Nalón, Pas.
[edit] Main cities
The main cities on the shores of the Bay of Biscay are:
- France: Brest, Nantes, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Bayonne.
- Spain: San Sebastian, Bilbao, Santander, Gijon.
[edit] 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 (Ocean of the Cantabri).
On some medieval maps, the Bay of Biscay is marked as El Mar del los Vascos, the Basque Bay. The Bay of Biscay is the birthplace of what is possibly the world's most successful and most renowned maritime industry, the Basque and Cantabrian shipbuilders and fishermen.
[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.
The alga Colpomenia peregrina was introduced and first noticed by oyster fishermen in the Bay of Biscay in 1906.
[edit] Trivia
- The British Yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur finished her first trip around the world here, and there is a famous song based on this.
- Biscay is also an area of the British Shipping Forecast, familiar to BBC Radio 4 listeners.
- This area was considered to be the final (European) destination for the Soviet Red Army (the former U.S.S.R.'s military force) during the Cold War. The location has both geopolitical as well as strategic importance. The former is representative of potential Soviet dominance of Europe, and the latter applies to the strategic importance of Soviet naval access to the Atlantic Ocean.
