Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation

Last updated

Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC), in Cardigan Bay, West Wales, UK, has been designated under European Union law to protect a variety of important species and habitats. [1]

Cardigan Bay bay in Wales

Cardigan Bay is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales.

West Wales

West Wales is not clearly defined as a particular region of Wales. Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of Deheubarth and was called "South West Wales" in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS). Other definitions include Swansea and Neath Port Talbot but exclude Ceredigion. The "West Wales and the Valleys" NUTS area includes more westerly parts of North Wales.

A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora. They are to protect the 220 habitats and approximately 1000 species listed in annex I and II of the directive which are considered to be of European interest following criteria given in the directive. They must be chosen from the Sites of Community Importance by the State Members and designated SAC by an act assuring the conservation measures of the natural habitat.

Contents

Located between Ceibwr Bay in Pembrokeshire and Aberarth in Ceredigion, and extending almost 20 km from the coast, the SAC protects the wildlife of some 1000km² of sea. [2] [3]

Ceibwr Bay bay in Pembrokeshire, west Wales

Ceibwr Bay is a bay opening into the Irish Sea in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. It is about 7 km west of Cardigan, and 3 km south of the headland of Cemaes Head. It is owned by the National Trust, within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.

Pembrokeshire County in Wales

Pembrokeshire is a county in the southwest of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the sea everywhere else.

Aberarth a village located in Ceredigion, United Kingdom

Aberarth, Ceredigion, Wales is a small seaside village situated towards the southern end of Cardigan Bay between Aberystwyth and Cardigan.

Conservation aims

dolphin watching information for visitors Will we see one^ - geograph.org.uk - 1363141.jpg
dolphin watching information for visitors

The protected area supports a large variety of marine animals and plants, from reef-building worms to bottlenose dolphins—Europe’s largest population of the latter, there being few places where they are more easily seen in the wild. [4] [5]

There are seven features for whose conservation the area has been designated: [6]

Bottlenose dolphin genus of dolphin

Bottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphin. Molecular studies show the genus contains three species: the common bottlenose dolphin, the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, and the Burrunan dolphin. Bottlenose dolphins inhabit warm and temperate seas worldwide, being found everywhere except for the Arctic and Antarctic Circle regions.

Grey seal species of seal

The grey seal is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or "earless seals". It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus. Its name is spelled gray seal in the US; it is also known as Atlantic seal and the horsehead seal.

Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus

The sea lamprey is a parasitic lamprey native to the Eastern Hemisphere.

"Cardigan Bay’s Big Three" include bottlenose dolphins, Harbor porpoises and Atlantic grey seals. Other mammals, such as Minke whales, Risso's dolphins and Common dolphins, many species of sea birds such as Puffin, and sharks can be seen as well. Seasonal or rarer megafaunas visiting the area include Humpback whales, [7] [8] Fin whales, Sperm whales, Pygmy sperm whales, Northern bottlenose whales, Sowerby's beaked whales, Killer whales, Long-finned pilot whales, Thresher sharks, Basking sharks, and Sunfish. The Leatherback turtle, a very rare, critically endangered species are also known to visit the bay.

Minke whale colloquial name of two whale species

The minke whale, or lesser rorqual, is a species complex of baleen whale. The two species of minke whale are the common minke whale and the Antarctic minke whale. The minke whale was first described by the Danish naturalist Otto Fabricius in 1780, who assumed it must be an already known species and assigned his specimen to Balaena rostrata, a name given to the northern bottlenose whale by Otto Friedrich Müller in 1776. In 1804, Bernard Germain de Lacépède described a juvenile specimen of Balaenoptera acuto-rostrata. The name is a partial translation of Norwegian minkehval, possibly after a Norwegian whaler named Meincke, who mistook a northern minke whale for a blue whale.

Rissos dolphin species of dolphin

Risso's dolphin is the only species of dolphin in the genus Grampus. It is commonly known as the Monk dolphin among Taiwanese fishermen. Some of the closest related species to these dolphins include: pilot whales, pygmy killer whales, melon-headed whales, and false killer whales.

Common dolphin genus of mammals

The common dolphin is the name given to two species of dolphin making up the genus Delphinus. Taxonomists and cetologists usually recognise two species — the short-beaked common dolphin, which retains the systematic name Delphinus delphis, and the long-beaked common dolphin D. capensis.

Management of the SAC is directed through the Relevant Authorities Group (RAG), coordinated by a SAC Officer. The aim of the SAC is to maintain its rich and varied marine life (biodiversity) in at least as good a condition as when the site was first designated – ideally to bring it into ‘Favourable Conservation Status’. [3] :pp.45–48 Special attention is paid to ensuring that human activities carried out in the area are done so sustainably. [3] :p.147

See also

Related Research Articles

Cetacea Order of mammals

Cetaceans are aquatic mammals constituting the infraorder Cetacea. There are around 89 living species, which are divided into two parvorders. The first is the Odontoceti, the toothed whales, which consist of around 70 species, including the dolphin, porpoise, beluga whale, narwhal, sperm whale, and beaked whale. The second is the Mysticeti, the baleen whales, which have a filter-feeder system, and consist of 15 species divided into 3 families, and include the right whale, bowhead whale, rorqual, pygmy right whale, and gray whale.

Dolphin Marine mammals, closely related to whales and porpoises

Dolphin is a common name of aquatic mammals within the infraorder Cetacea. The term dolphin usually refers to the extant families Delphinidae, Platanistidae, Iniidae, and Pontoporiidae, and the extinct Lipotidae. There are 40 extant species named as dolphins.

Whale watching

Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity, but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes. A study prepared for International Fund for Animal Welfare in 2009 estimated that 13 million people went whale watching globally in 2008. Whale watching generates $2.1 billion per annum in tourism revenue worldwide, employing around 13,000 workers. The size and rapid growth of the industry has led to complex and continuing debates with the whaling industry about the best use of whales as a natural resource.

Moray Firth inlet near Inverness, Scotland

The Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotland. It is the largest firth in Scotland, stretching from Duncansby Head in the north, in the Highland council area, and Fraserburgh in the east, in the Aberdeenshire council area, to Inverness and the Beauly Firth in the west. Therefore, three council areas have Moray Firth coastline: Highland to the west and north of the Moray Firth and Highland, Moray and Aberdeenshire to the south. The firth has more than 800 kilometres of coastline, much of which is cliff.

Toothed whale suborder of whales

The toothed whales are a parvorder of cetaceans that includes dolphins, porpoises, and all other whales possessing teeth, such as the beaked whales and sperm whales. Seventy-three species of toothed whales are described. They are one of two living groups of cetaceans, the other being the baleen whales (Mysticeti), which have baleen instead of teeth. The two groups are thought to have diverged around 34 million years ago (mya).

Dwarf sperm whale species of mammal

The dwarf sperm whale is a sperm whale that inhabits temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, in particular continental shelves and slopes. It was first described by biologist Richard Owen in 1866, based on illustrations by naturalist Sir Walter Elliot. The species was considered to be synonymous with the pygmy sperm whale from 1878 until 1998. The dwarf sperm whale is a small whale, 2 to 2.7 m and 136 to 272 kg, that has a gray coloration, square head, small jaw, and robust body. Its appearance is very similar to the pygmy sperm whale, distinguished mainly by the position of the dorsal fin on the body–nearer the middle in the dwarf sperm whale and nearer the back in the other.

Cetacean surfacing behaviour

Cetacean surfacing behaviour or breaching is a group of behaviours demonstrated by the Cetacea infraorder when they come to the water's surface to breathe. Time intervals between surfacing can vary depending on the species, surfacing style or the purpose of the dive, and some species have been known to dive for up to 85 minutes at a time when hunting. In addition to respiration, cetaceans have developed and used surface behaviours for many other functions such as display, feeding and communication. All regularly observed members of the order Cetacea, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, show a range of surfacing behaviours. Cetacea is usually split into two suborders, Odontoceti and Mysticeti, based on the presence of teeth or baleen plates in adults respectively. However, when considering behaviour, Cetacea can be split into whales and dolphins and porpoises as many behaviours are correlated with size. Although some behaviours such as spyhopping, logging and lobtailing occur in both groups, others such as bow riding or peduncle throws are exclusive to one or the other. It is these energetic behaviours that humans observe most frequently, which has resulted in a large amount of scientific literature on the subject and a popular tourism industry.

Cetacean bycatch

Cetacean bycatch is the incidental capture of non-target cetacean species such as dolphins, porpoises, and whales by fisheries. Bycatch can be caused by entanglement in fishing nets and lines, or direct capture by hooks or in trawl nets.

Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch

Marine National Park in the Gulf of Kutch is situated on the southern shore of the Gulf of Kutch in the Devbhumi Dwarka district of Gujarat state, India. In 1980, an area of 270 km2 from Okha to Jodiya was declared Marine Sanctuary. Later, in 1982, a core area of 110 km2 was declared Marine National Park under the provisions of the Wildlife (protection) Act, 1972 of India. There are 42 islands on the Jamnagar coast in the Marine National Park, most of them surrounded by reefs. The best known island is Pirotan.

Paracas National Reserve Protected area in Peru

Paracas National Reserve is a protected area located in the region of Ica, Peru and protects desert and marine ecosystems for their conservation and sustainable use. There are also archaeological remains of the Paracas culture inside the reserve.

Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary marine protected area off of Massachusetts, USA

Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is an 842-square-mile (638-square-nautical-mile) federally protected marine sanctuary located at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, between Cape Cod and Cape Ann. It is known as an excellent whale watching site, and is home to many other species of marine life.

ACCOBAMS

ACCOBAMS, the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area is ‘a cooperative tool for the conservation of marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean and Black Seas’.

Camden Sound bight in Australia

Camden Sound is relatively wide body of water in the Indian Ocean located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Australian humpback dolphin species of mammal

The Australian humpback dolphin is a species of humpback dolphin and the fourth recognized humpback dolphin species chronologically. The specific name sahulensis is derived from the Sahul Shelf, located between northern Australia and southern New Guinea, where the Australian humpback dolphins occur.

References

  1. ↑ Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) at Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)
  2. ↑ "Cardigan Bay SAC". cardiganbaysac.org.uk.
  3. 1 2 3 Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Management Scheme compiled by the Relevant Authorities Group for Cardigan Bay SAC, 2008
  4. ↑ Evans, P. G. H., Anderwald, P. & Baines, M. (2003) UK Cetacean Status Review. Report to English Nature & Countryside Council for Wales, 160pp.
  5. ↑ Louise Tickle Dolphins bully porpoises, researcher discovers, The Guardian, 11 May 2010. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  6. ↑ Cardigan Bay/ Bae Ceredigion at Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).
  7. ↑ The first recorded sighting was in 2005.
  8. ↑ "BBC NEWS - UK - Wales - Mid - Humpback whale sightings in bay". bbc.co.uk.

Coordinates: 52°15′N4°32′W / 52.250°N 4.533°W / 52.250; -4.533

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.