Strangford Lough

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Strangford Lough

Strangford Lough ( describing the fast-flowing narrows

Narrows

Narrows is a term for restricted land or water passages. Most commonly it refers to a strait, though it can also refer to a water gap.Used without qualification, it generally refers to The Narrows, which separates Staten Island from Brooklyn and connects the upper and lower sections of New York Bay....
; in Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
called Loch Cuan meaning the calm lough

Lough

A lough is a body of water and is either:* A lake.* A sea lough, which may be a fjord, estuary, bay, or sea inlet.It can also be used as a surname, with various pronunciations: law, loch, low, lowe, loth, loff....
describing the still shallow water

Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
s of the mud flats) is a lough in County Down

County Down

County Down is one of the nine Counties of Ireland that form the province of Ulster and one of six counties that form Northern Ireland. The county forms an area of ....
, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

conventional_long_name = Northern Ireland|native_name= Tuaisceart ?ireannNorlin Airlann|motto =|image_map = Europe location N-IRL2.png...
, 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...
by the Ards Peninsula

Ards Peninsula

The Ards Peninsula is a peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland which separates Strangford Lough from the North Channel of the Irish Sea, on Ireland's northeast coast....
. It is a popular tourist attraction

Tourist attraction

A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
noted for its fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include Fish net, Fish trap, Spearfishing, angling and Gathering seafood by hand. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, Edible frog and some edible marine invertebrates....
and the picturesque village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, larger than a hamlet , but smaller than a town or city. Though generally located in rural areas, the term urban village may be applied to certain urban area neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in Beirut, Lebanon....
s and township

Township

A township is a settlement which has the status and powers of a unit of local government. Specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country....
s which border its waters. These include Portaferry

Portaferry

Portaferry is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough....
on the Ards Peninsula, which is connected to Strangford

Strangford

Strangford is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is situated across Strangford Lough from Portaferry and is the main base for the Strangford Lough ferry service....
across the lough by a car ferry

RORO

Roll-on/roll-off ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo such as automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, Trailer or railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels....
.

The island studded sea lough is the largest inlet in the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain and Ireland, and numerous smaller islands....
, covering 150 km².

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Encyclopedia

Strangford Lough ( describing the fast-flowing narrows

Narrows

Irish language

Lough

Water

County Down

County Down is one of the nine Counties of Ireland that form the province of Ulster and one of six counties that form Northern Ireland. The county forms an area of ....
, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

conventional_long_name = Northern Ireland|native_name= Tuaisceart ?ireannNorlin Airlann|motto =|image_map = Europe location N-IRL2.png...
, separated from the Irish Sea

Irish Sea

Ards Peninsula

Tourist attraction

Fishing

Village

Township

Portaferry

Strangford

RORO

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain and Ireland, and numerous smaller islands....
, covering 150 km². Almost totally landlocked

Landlocked

A landlocked country is commonly defined as one enclosed or nearly enclosed by land. As of 2008, there are 44 landlocked countries in the world....
, the lough is approached from the Irish Sea through the eight kilometre

Kilometre

The kilometre , symbol km is a Units of measurement of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres.Slang terms for kilometre include click and kay ....
long fast-running tidal narrows, which open out into more gentle waters where there are 70 island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
s. Countless tidal rocky outcrop

Outcrop

Outcrop is a Geology term referring to the appearance of bedrock or superficial deposits exposed at the surface of the Earth. In most places the bedrock or superficial deposits are covered by a mantle of soil and vegetation and cannot be seen or examined closely....
s called pladdies litter the lough and mudflats, along with marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood . Typically the water is shallow and features Poaceaees, Juncaceaees, Phragmites, typhas, Cyperaless, and other herbaceous plants....
es, rocks

Rock (geology)

In geology, rock is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock....
, bays and headlands. The lough is a conservation area

Conservation area

A conservation area is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded....
and its abundant wildlife

Wildlife

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals, and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
recognised internationally for its importance.

Flora and Fauna

Flora

A brown seaweed
Seaweed

Seaweed is a loose colloquial term encompassing macroscopic, multicellular, benthos ocean algae. The term includes some members of the rhodophyta, phycophyta and green algae....
named Sargassum
Sargassum

Sargassum is a genus of generally planktonic macroalgae in the order Fucales. It is named for the Atlantic Ocean's Sargasso Sea, which hosts a large amount of several species of Sargassum....
muticum, originally from the Pacific (Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
) was discovered on the 15th March 1995 in Strangford Lough at Paddy's Point. The plants were well established on mesh bags containing oysters. The bags had been put out in 1987 containing Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) imported from Guernsey
Guernsey

The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Isles Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.As well as the island of Guernsey itself, it also includes Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou, Burhou, Lihou and other islets....
. This Sargassum is known to be a highly invasive species.
Maerl
Maerl

Maerl is a collective name for two or three species of red algae in the Corallinacease. It accumulates as unattached particles and forms extensive beds in suitable sublittoral sites....
is a calcareous deposit, in the main, of two species, of calcareous
Calcareous

Calcareous refers to a sediment, sedimentary rock, or soil type which is formed from or contains a high proportion of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite or aragonite....
algae
Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. The largest and most complex marine forms are called seaweeds....
Phymatolithon calcareum and Lithothamnion glaciale which form free-living beds of unattached, branched coralline
Coralline

Coralline means "resembling coral" and may refer to:* Coralline algae, whose fronds are covered with calcareous deposits.* Coralline rock, formed by the death of layers of coralline algae....
s, living or dead, in Strangford Lough.

Fauna

Strangford Lough is an important winter migration

Bird migration

Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather....
destination for many wading and sea birds. Animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
s commonly found in the lough include common seal

Common Seal

The Harbor Seal , also known as the Common Seal or alternately spelled Harbour Seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern hemisphere....
s, basking sharks

Basking shark

The basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, is the second largest living fish, after the whale shark. It is a cosmopolitan species ? it is found in all the world's temperate oceans....
and Brent Geese

Brent Goose

The Brent Goose , a goose of the genus Branta, is known in North America as Brant. The spelling "Brant" is the original one, with "Brent" being a later Folk etymology idea that it was derived from a classical Greek waterbird name brenthos....
. Three quarters of the world population of Pale Bellied Brent Geese winter in the lough.

Tidal Electricity

In 2007 Strangford Lough became home to the birth of a new industry as the world

World

World is a common name for the planet Earth seen from a human worldview, as a place inhabited by human beings. It is often used to signify the sum of human experience and history, or the 'human condition' in general....
's first commercial tidal power

Tidal power

Tidal power, sometimes called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into electricity or other useful forms of power....
station was installed in the narrows. The 1.2 megawatt underwater tidal electricity generator, part of Northern Ireland's Environment and Renewable Energy Fund scheme, takes advantage of the fast tidal flow in the lough which can be up to 4 m/s. Although the generator is powerful enough to power up to a thousand homes, the turbine

Turbine

A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow. Claude Burdin coined the term from the Latin turbo, or vortex, during an 1828 engineering competition....
has a minimal environmental impact

Environmental degradation

Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife....
, as it is almost entirely submerged, and the rotors turn slowly enough that they pose no danger to wildlife

Wildlife

Activity on Strangford Lough

Strangford Lough is a place of natural beauty that the locals put to great use. From using it as a national highway (Portaferry-Strangford ferry) to using it for activities of leisure - sailing, kayaking, bird watching, diving and much more. There are a number of companies based in the local area encouraging visitors to explore the hidden depths of this wonderful place. Exploris Aquarium - where you can learn more about the lough and its wildlife. Clearsky Adventure Centre - try out kayaking, canoeing and much more. DV diving - taking you beneath the water to discover your own secret world. This lough has so much to offer and with the local tourist board taking great interest there are canoe trails in place and even a 'Strangford Lough Activity Map' has been recently launched as a part of a series of maps produced by Land & Property Services under the banner ‘Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland'.

Strangford Lough

Flora and Fauna

Flora

Fauna

Tidal Electricity

Activity on Strangford Lough

See also

Further reading

External links