Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay (/ˈbɪskeɪ, -ki/ BIS-kay, kee) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward to Cape Ortegal. The southern area of the Bay of Biscay that washes over the northern coast of Spain is known locally as the Cantabrian Sea.
Not to be confused with Biscay Bay in Canada or Biscayne Bay in the United States.Bay of Biscay
593.7 km (368.9 mi)
511.1 km (317.6 mi)
223,000 km2 (86,000 sq mi)
1,744 m (5,722 ft)
4,735 m (15,535 ft)
389,000 km3 (93,000 cu mi)
35 g/L
The average depth is 1,744 m (5,722 ft) and the greatest depth is 4,735 m (15,535 ft).[1]
Name[edit]
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).
History[edit]
The southern end of the gulf is also called "Mar Cantábrico" in Spanish (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) and also, Mare Gallaecum (the Sea of the Galicians). On some medieval maps, the Bay of Biscay is marked as El Mar del los Vascos (the Basque Sea).[6]
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 Battle of the Bay of Biscay. The Biscay campaign of June 1795 consisted of a series of manoeuvres and two battles fought between the British Channel Fleet and the French Atlantic Fleet off the southern coast of Brittany during the second year of the French Revolutionary Wars. The USS Californian sank here after striking a naval mine on 22 June 1918.[7] In 1920 the SS Afrique sank after losing power and drifting into a reef in a storm with the loss of 575 lives. On 28 December 1943, the Battle of the Bay of Biscay was fought between HMS Glasgow and HMS Enterprise, and a group of German destroyers as part of Operation Stonewall during World War II. The U-667 sank on 25 August 1944 in position 46°00′N 01°30′W / 46.000°N 1.500°W, when she struck a mine. All hands were lost.
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.
Wildlife[edit]
Plaiaundi Ecology Park[edit]
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]