Strangford Lough from Portaferry, looking towards the narrows. Strangford Lough (from the Old Norse: Strangrfjörthr meaning " 'strong' 'ford'" describing the fast flowing narrows; and Loch Cuan in Irish meaning the calm lough describing the gentle waters of the mud flats) is a lough in County Down, Northern Ireland, separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula. It is a popular tourist attraction noted for its fishing and the picturesque villages and townships which border its waters. The most notable of these is Portaferry, a small village of around 3,000 people. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2592 × 1944 pixel, file size: 2. ...
Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2592 × 1944 pixel, file size: 2. ...
Old Norse is the Germanic language spoken by the inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300. ...
Look up Lough in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Please see also Loch A Lough is a body of water and either: a lake or; b sea lough, which may be perceived also as a fjord, estuary, bay or sea inlet. ...
Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Downpatrick Area: 2,448 km² Population (est. ...
Northern Ireland (Irish: ) is a part of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ...
Relief map of the Irish Sea. ...
The Ards peninsula is a peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland which separates Strangford Lough from the North Channel on Irelands northeast coast. ...
Portaferry (in Irish: Port an Pheire, ie Landing place of the ferry) is a large village in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. ...
The island studded sea lough is the largest inlet in the UK and Ireland, covering 150 square kilometres. Almost totally landlocked, the lough is approached from the Irish Sea through the eight kilometre long fast-running tidal narrows, which open out into more gentle waters where, it is said, there are 365 islands, one for every day of the year. In reality there are 70. Countless tidal rocky outcrops called pladdies litter the Lough and mudflats, along with marshes, rocks, bays and headlands.[1] The Lough is a conservation area and its abundant wildlife recognised internationally for its importance.
Strangford Lough is an important winter migration destination for many wading and sea birds. Animals commonly found in the lough include seals, basking sharks and Brent Geese. Three quarters of the world population of Brent Geese winter in the lough.[2] Flock of Barnacle Geese during autumn migration Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys of varying distances undertaken by many species of birds. ...
For other meanings of bird, see bird (disambiguation). ...
Binomial name bobbi Linnaeus,, 1758 Common or Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina) are true seals of the Northern Hemisphere. ...
Binomial name (Gunnerus, 1765) Range (in blue) The basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, is the second largest fish, after the whale shark. ...
Binomial name Branta bernicla (Linnaeus, 1758) The Brent Goose (Branta bernicla) is a goose of the genus Branta, known in North America as Brant. ...
Maerl
Maerl is a calcareous deposit, in the main, of two species, of calcareous algae Phymatolithon calcareum and Lithothamnion glaciale which form free-living beds of unattached, branched corallines, living or dead in Strangford Lough.[3]
Tidal Electricity In 2007 Strangford Lough will become home to the birth of a new industry as the world's first commercial tidal power station is installed in the narrrows. The 1.2 megawatt underwater tidal electricity generator, part of Northern Ireland's Environment & Renewable Energy Fund scheme, will take advantage of the fast tidal flow in the lough which can be up to 4m per second. Although the generator will be powerful enough to power up to a thousand homes, the turbine will have a minimal environmental impact, as it will be almost entirely submerged, and the rotors turn slowly enough that they pose no danger to wildlife.[4][5] Tidal power, sometimes called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that exploits the rise and fall in sea levels due to the tides, or the movement of water caused by tidal currents. ...
The SeaGen rotor in Harland and Wolff, Belfast before installation in Strangford Narrows Marine Current Turbines Ltd. ...
References - ^ Culture Northern Ireland - Natural History of Strangford Lough
- ^ BBC Hands on Nature
- ^ Blake,C. and Maggs, C.A. 2001. A study of maerl beds in Strangford Lough, including determination of growth rates. in Nunn, J.D. (ed). Marine Biodiversity in Ireland and Adjacent Waters. Ulster Museum, Belfast. MAGNI publication no. 008
- ^ BBC News
- ^ Guernsey Press]
Further reading - Boaden, P.J.S., O'Connor, R.J. and Seed, R. 1975. The composition and zonation of a Fucus serratus community in Strangford Lough, Co. Down. J. exp. Biol. Ecol. 17: 111 - 136.
Binomial name L. Fucus serratus is a seaweed of the north Atlantic Ocean, known as toothed wrack or serrated wrack [1]. It is olive–brown in colour and similar to F. vesiculosus and Fucus spiralis. ...
See also This is a list of Irish loughs. ...
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