Strangford Lough

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A map of Strangford Lough
Strangford Lough from Portaferry, looking towards the narrows.
Strangford Lough from Portaferry.

Strangford Lough, sometimes Strangford Loch,[1] is a large sea loch or inlet in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula. The name Strangford is derived from Old Norse: Strangr-fjǫrðr meaning "strong fjord"; describing the fast-flowing narrows at its mouth. It is called Loch Cuan (formerly anglicised as Lough Cuan) in Irish, meaning "lough of harbours"[2] (describing the still shallow waters of the mud flats), and Strangfurd Loch or Strangfirt Lough in Ulster-Scots.[3][4] The fretum Brene (called in some of the other Vitaey fretum Brenasse) was the ancient name applied to the narrow entrance to Strangford.[5]

It is a popular tourist attraction noted for its fishing and the picturesque villages and townships which border its waters. These include Portaferry on the Ards Peninsula, which is connected to Strangford across the lough by a car ferry.

The island studded sea lough is the largest inlet in the British Isles, covering 150 km². 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 there are 70 islands. Countless tidal rocky outcrops called pladdies litter the lough and mudflats, along with marshes, rocks, bays and headlands. The lough is a conservation area and its abundant wildlife recognised internationally for its importance.

Contents

Flora and fauna [edit]

Flora [edit]

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.[6]

The rocky and boulder shores toward the south of the lough are dominated by the seaweed knotted wrack Ascophyllum nodosum. The usual zonation of weeds on these shore is, at the top channel wrack (Pelvetia canaliculata (L.) Dcne. et Rhur.), followed by spiral wrack (Fucus spiralis L.), then knotted wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum (L.) Le Jol) with some admixture of bladder wrack (Fucus vesiculosus L.) and then serrated wrack (Fucus serratus L.) before coming to the low water kelps.[7]

A brown seaweed named Sargassum muticum, originally from the Pacific (Japan) was discovered on 15 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. This Sargassum is known to be a highly invasive species.[8][9]

Fauna [edit]

Strangford Lough is an important winter migration destination for many wading and sea birds. Animals commonly found in the lough include common seals, basking sharks and Brent Geese. Three quarters of the world population of Pale Bellied Brent Geese spend winter in the lough area.[10]

The invasive carpet sea squirt, Didemnum vexillum, was found in the Lough in 2012.[11]

Tidal electricity [edit]

SeaGen.

In 2007 Strangford Lough became home to the world's first commercial tidal stream power station, SeaGen. 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 has a minimal environmental impact, as it is almost entirely submerged, and the rotors turn slowly enough that they pose no danger to wildlife.[12][13][14]

Since June 2008 a tidal energy device called Evopod has been tested in Strangford Lough near the Portaferry Ferry landing.[15] The device is a 1/10 scale prototype and is being monitored by Queen's University Belfast. The device is a semi submerged floating tidal turbine and is moored to the seabed via a buoy mounted swivel so that it always maintains optimum heading into the direction of the tidal flow. The scale device is not grid connected and dissipates the small amount of power it generates as heat into the sea.

Activity on Strangford Lough [edit]

Strangford Lough Canoe Trail, August 2009

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 area including: Exploris Aquarium - where you can learn more about the lough and its wildlife; Clearsky Adventure Centre - kayaking, canoeing etc. and DV diving. There are also canoe trails in place and a 'Strangford Lough Activity Map' has been launched as a part of a series of maps produced by the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

Ferry [edit]

MV Portaferry II, August 2009

There has been a ferry service between Portaferry and Strangford, without a break, for almost four centuries.[16] The alternative road journey is 75 kilometres and takes about an hour and a half, while the ferry crosses the 0.6 nautical miles (1.1 km) in 8 minutes.[17] A new £2.7 million vessel, MV Portaferry II, built by McTay Marine of Merseyside, came into service on 18 December 2001, relegating the earlier vessel, MV Strangford to a support role.[16] MV Strangford was built by the Verlome Shipyard in Cork and launched on 6 September 1969. The earlier MV Portaferry was bought from a company in Wales and modified by Harland and Wolff of Belfast.[16] She was sold in May 2002.

Archaeology [edit]

Strangford Lough has a substantial archaeological heritage. Intertidal archaeological surveys in recent years have brought hundreds of sites to light, including fish traps, tidal mills, kelp walls and harbours and landing places.[18]

See also [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Strangford Lough

References [edit]

  1. ^ See Google Books for published examples online.
  2. ^ Place-Names of Northern Ireland by Queen's University
  3. ^ Jordan's Castle (Ulster-Scots translation) Department of the Environment.
  4. ^ Nendrum (Ulster-Scots translation) Department of the Environment.
  5. ^ II-Landing Places of St. Patrick, "Saint Patrick: his life and mission", Mrs. THOMAS qONCANNON, The Talbot Press Ltd., Dublin & Cork, From The James D. Phelan Celtic Collection
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Brown, R. 1990. Strangford Lough. The Wildlife of an Irish Sea Lough. The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast
  8. ^ Boaden, P.J.S. 1995. The adventive seaweed Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland. Ir.Nat. J. 25:111 - 113
  9. ^ Davison,D.M. 1999. Sargassum muticum in Strangford Lough, 1995 - 1998; a review of the introduction and colonisation of Strangford Lough MNR and cSAC by the invasive brown algae Sargassum muticum. Environment and Heritage Service Research and Development Series. No. 99/27.
  10. ^ BBC Hands on Nature
  11. ^ Carpet sea squirt found in Lough
  12. ^ Turbine technology is turning the tides into power of the future
  13. ^ SeaGen Turbine Installation Completed
  14. ^ "Tidal energy system on full power". BBC News. 18 December 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2009. 
  15. ^ "First Testing of Evopod at Strangford Narrows". Ocean Flow Energy Ltd. 12 June 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2009. [dead link]
  16. ^ a b c "Strangford Lough Ferry - History". Northern Ireland Roads Department. Retrieved 13 September 2009. 
  17. ^ "About the Ferry". Northern Ireland Roads Department. Retrieved 13 September 2009. 
  18. ^ O'Sullivan, Aidan & Breen, Colin (2007). Maritime Ireland. An Archaeology of Coastal Communities. Stroud: Tempus. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-7524-2509-2. 

Further reading [edit]

  • 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.
  • Walsh, B. 2009. Catching the Currents. Time 173 no.4. p. 44.

External links [edit]
Areas marked † are proposed

Coordinates: 54°28′59″N 5°34′59″W / 54.483°N 5.583°W / 54.483; -5.583

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