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The Celtic Sea (; ; ; ; ) is the area of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
 off the south
South

South is one of the cardinal directions and is opposite to the north.By Western world Norm , the bottom side of a map is south; the southern direction has azimuth or bearing of 180?....
 coast
Coast

The coast is defined as that part of the land adjoining or near the ocean or its saltwater arms. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the process of tides....
 of Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
. It is bounded to the east by Saint George's Channel, the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel

The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England, and extending from the lower Severn Estuary of the River Severn to that part of the North Atlantic Ocean known as the Celtic Sea ....
 and the English Channel
English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
, as well as adjacent portions of Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
, Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
, and Brittany
Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
. The southern and western boundaries are based on the continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
.

The maximum depth of sea is .

Celt
Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
ic heritage of the bounding lands gives the sea its name, first proposed by E. W. L. Holt
Ernest William Lyons Holt

Ernest William Lyons Holt was an eminent England marine natural history and biologist specialized in ichthyology, the study of fish. His work helped lay a scientific foundation for the fishery management in Ireland, and together with William Spotswood Green, he strongly influenced the development of the Irish Fisheries in its early years....
 at a 1921 meeting in Dublin
Dublin

Dublin is both the largest city and capital of Republic of Ireland. It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region....
 of fisheries experts from England, Ireland, Scotland and France.






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Mappa An Mor Keltek
The Celtic Sea (; ; ; ; ) is the area of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
 off the south
South

South is one of the cardinal directions and is opposite to the north.By Western world Norm , the bottom side of a map is south; the southern direction has azimuth or bearing of 180?....
 coast
Coast

The coast is defined as that part of the land adjoining or near the ocean or its saltwater arms. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the process of tides....
 of Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
. It is bounded to the east by Saint George's Channel, the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel

The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England, and extending from the lower Severn Estuary of the River Severn to that part of the North Atlantic Ocean known as the Celtic Sea ....
 and the English Channel
English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
, as well as adjacent portions of Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
, Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
, and Brittany
Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
. The southern and western boundaries are based on the continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
.

The maximum depth of sea is .

History

The Celt
Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
ic heritage of the bounding lands gives the sea its name, first proposed by E. W. L. Holt
Ernest William Lyons Holt

Ernest William Lyons Holt was an eminent England marine natural history and biologist specialized in ichthyology, the study of fish. His work helped lay a scientific foundation for the fishery management in Ireland, and together with William Spotswood Green, he strongly influenced the development of the Irish Fisheries in its early years....
 at a 1921 meeting in Dublin
Dublin

Dublin is both the largest city and capital of Republic of Ireland. It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region....
 of fisheries experts from England, Ireland, Scotland and France. The northern portion of this sea had previously been considered as part of Saint George's Channel and the southern portion as an undifferentiated part of the "Southwest Approaches
Southwest Approaches

The Southwest Approaches is the name given to the offshore waters to the southwest of Great Britain. The area includes the Celtic Sea, the Bristol Channel and sea areas off southwest Ireland....
" to Britain. The need for a common name came to be felt because of common marine biology
Marine biology

Marine biology is the scientific study of living organisms in the ocean or other Marine or brackish bodies of water.Given that in biology many scientific classification, families and Genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather than on taxon...
, geology
Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
 and hydrology
Hydrology

Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the Earth, and thus addresses both the hydrologic cycle and water resources....
. It was adopted in France before being common in the English-speaking countries. It was adopted by marine biologists and oceanographers, and later by oil exploration firms. It is named in a 1963 British atlas, but a 1972 article states "what British maps call the western approaches, and what the oil industry calls the Celtic Sea [...] certainly the residents on the western coast [of Great Britain] don't refer to it as such."

Limits

There are no land features to divide the Celtic Sea from the open Atlantic Ocean to the south and west. For these limits, Holt suggested the 200 fathom
Fathom

A fathom is a Units of measurement of length in the Imperial unit , used especially for measuring the depth of water.There are 2 yards in a fathom....
 (366 m) marine contour
Contour line

A contour line of a Function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value. In cartography, a contour line joins points of equal elevation above a given level, such as mean sea level....
 and Ushant
Ushant

Ushant is an island in the English Channel which marks the north-westernmost point of European France. It belongs to Brittany and is in the traditional region of Bro-Leon....
.

The definition approved by 1974 by the Hydrographer
Hydrography

Hydrography focuses on the measurement of physical characteristics of waters and marginal land. In the generalized usage, "hydrography" pertains to measurement and description of any waters....
 of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 for use in Admiralty
Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Originally exercised by a single person, the office of Lord High Admiral was from the 18th century onward almost invariably put "in commission", and was exercised by a Board of Admiralty....
 Charts was "bounded roughly by lines joining Ushant, Land's End
Land's End

Land's End is a Headlands and bays on the Penwith peninsula, located near Penzance in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the most Extreme points of the United Kingdom tip of the southern mainland ....
, Hartland Point
Hartland Point

Hartland Point is a high rocky outcrop of land on the northwestern tip of the Devon coast in England. It is three miles north-west of the village of Hartland, Devon....
, Lundy Island, St. Govan's Head and Rosslare
Rosslare

The name Rosslare may refer to:*Rosslare Strand, a village in County Wexford, Ireland* Rosslare Harbour, a village in County Wexford, Ireland...
, thence following the Irish coast south to Mizen Head
Mizen Head

Mizen Head , at the western extremity of the peninsula formerly known as the Ivagha Peninsula or U?bh Eachach, is the south-westernmost point of Ireland, is one of the extreme points of Ireland....
 and then along the 200-metre isobath to approximately the latitude of Ushant."

The International Hydrographic Organization
International Hydrographic Organization

The International Hydrographic Organization was originally established in 1921 as the International Hydrographic Bureau . The present name was adopted in 1970 as a result of a revised international agreement among member nations....
 definition, adopted by 1976, uses rhumb line
Rhumb line

In navigation, a rhumb line is a line crossing all meridian at the same angle, i.e. a path of constant bearing . Unlike a great circle route , following a rhumb line requires turning the vehicle more and more sharply while approaching the poles....
s and extends slightly further south. It is as follows:
  • Separated from the Irish Sea
    Irish Sea

    The Irish Sea also known as the Mann Sea or Manx Sea, separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea portion of the Atlantic Ocean by St George's Channel between Republic of Ireland and Wales, and to the north by the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland which forms part of...
     to the north by a line from Carnsore Point
    Carnsore Point

    Carnsore Point is a headland in the very South East corner of County Wexford, Ireland.It is famous for being the proposed location of the Nuclear Energy Board power plant which was to be built in the 1970s....
    , County Wexford
    County Wexford

    County Wexford is a maritime county in the southeast of Republic of Ireland, in the province of Leinster. It takes its name from the principal town, Wexford, founded by Vikings and named by them 'Waesfjord', meaning 'inlet or bay of the mud-flats' in the Old Norse language....
     to Saint David's Head, Pembrokeshire
    Pembrokeshire

    Pembrokeshire is a county in the South West Wales of Wales in the United Kingdom....
     
    • Along the Pembrokeshire coast
  • Separated from the Bristol Channel
    Bristol Channel

    The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England, and extending from the lower Severn Estuary of the River Severn to that part of the North Atlantic Ocean known as the Celtic Sea ....
     to the east by a line from Saint Govan's Head, Pembrokeshire to Hartland Point
    Hartland Point

    Hartland Point is a high rocky outcrop of land on the northwestern tip of the Devon coast in England. It is three miles north-west of the village of Hartland, Devon....
    , Devon
    Devon

    Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
    • Along the Devon and Cornwall
      Cornwall

      Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
       coast
  • Separated from the English Channel
    English Channel

    The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
     to the east by a line from Land's End
    Land's End

    Land's End is a Headlands and bays on the Penwith peninsula, located near Penzance in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the most Extreme points of the United Kingdom tip of the southern mainland ....
    , Cornwall to Île Vierge, Finistère
    Finistère

    Finist?re is a Departments of France of France, located in Bretagne ....
     
    • Along the Finistère coast
  • Separated from the Bay of Biscay
    Bay of Biscay

    The Bay of Biscay is a Headlands and bays of the North Atlantic Ocean. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest, France south to the Spain border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Punta de Estaca de Bares, and is named for the Spanish province of Biscay....
     to the east by a line from Point Penmarc'h
    Point Penmarc'h

    File:Penmarc'h.jpgPoint Penmarc'h, often spelled Point Penmarch, or in French Pointe de Penmarc'h, is the extremity of a small peninsula in Finist?re Departments of France in Bretagne in northwestern France....
     towards Cabo Ortegal
    Ortegal

    Ortegal is a comarca in the Galicia A Coru?a . The overall population of this region is 15,810 ....
     in Galicia
  • From latitude 46°30’N on this line, northwestwards to
  • From there north to
  • From there to Mizen Head
    Mizen Head

    Mizen Head , at the western extremity of the peninsula formerly known as the Ivagha Peninsula or U?bh Eachach, is the south-westernmost point of Ireland, is one of the extreme points of Ireland....
    , County Cork
    County Cork

    County Cork is the most southerly and the largest of the modern counties of Republic of Ireland. Cork is nicknamed "The Rebel County", as a result of the support of the townsmen of Cork in 1491 for Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the throne of England during the Wars of the Roses....
    • Along the Cork, Waterford
      County Waterford

      County Waterford is a county in the province of Munster on the south coast of Republic of Ireland. It is the smallest county in Munster in terms of both area and population....
      , and Wexford coasts to Carnsore Point.


See also

  • Irish Conservation Box
    Irish Conservation Box

    The Irish Conservation Box is a Marine Protected Area stretching along the southwest coast of Ireland. The ICB was defined based on advice from marine biologists, and following review by European Commissioner for Fisheries & Maritime Affairs of the Common Fisheries Policy, as a means to safeguard the "Biology sensitivity and Commerce importa...


External links

  • : a bloom of phytoplankton
    Phytoplankton

    Phytoplankton are the autotrophic component of the plankton community. The name comes from the Greek language words phyton, or "plant", and p?a??t?? , meaning "wanderer" or "drifter"....
     in the Celtic Sea, visible from outer space
    Outer space

    Outer space comprises the relatively empty regions of the universe outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. Outer space is used to distinguish it from airspace and terrestrial locations....
     in an MISR
    MISR

    MISR is a scientific instrument on the Terra satellite launched by NASA on December 18, 1999. The device is designed to measure the solar radiation reflected by the Earth system in various directions and spectral bands; it became operational in February 2000....
     image, 4 June 2001