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Strangford Lough

(Redirected from Strangford Narrows)

Strangford Lough (Irish: Loch Cuan) is a large sea lough or inlet in County Down, in the east of Northern Ireland. It is the largest inlet in Ireland and the wider British Isles, covering 150 km2 (58 sq mi). The lough is almost fully enclosed by the Ards Peninsula and is linked to the Irish Sea by a long narrow channel at its southeastern edge. The main body of the lough has at least seventy islands along with many islets (pladdies), bays, coves, headlands and mudflats. It is part of the Strangford and Lecale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Strangford Lough was designated as Northern Ireland's first Marine Conservation Zone in 2013, and has been designated a Special Area of Conservation for its important wildlife.

Satellite view of Strangford Lough
Strangford Lough from Portaferry, looking towards the narrows.
Strangford Lough from Portaferry.

Strangford Lough is a popular tourist destination noted for its fishing and scenery. Towns and villages around the lough include Killyleagh, Comber, Newtownards, Portaferry and Strangford. The latter two straddle either shore of the narrow Strangford channel, and are connected by a car ferry.

Name

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The name Strangford comes from the Old Norse Strangfjörthr, meaning "strong fjord" or rather "fjord of the strong current". Originally it referred to the channel linking the lough to the sea, between the villages of Strangford and Portaferry, but it was extended to the lough as a whole from the 17th century onwards. The lough had previously been known as Lough Cone or Lough Coyne in English, from the Irish Loch Cuan ("lough of the harbours").[1]

Geology

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The lough was formed at the end of the last ice age and is generally under 10 metres (30 ft) deep, but can reach 50 to 60 metres (160 to 200 ft) in parts, generally the centre channel.[2]

Flora

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Flowering plants

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Common cord-grass (Spartina anglica) C.E. Hubbard, introduced in the mid-1940s, is now abundant.[3]

Algae

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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.[4]

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.[5]


Other algae include:[6]

Fauna

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Strangford Lough and Islands is an Important Bird Area.[7] 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.[8] Often the numbers are up to 15,000.[9] The Castle Espie wetland reserve sits on the banks of the lough near Comber.

The invasive carpet sea squirt, Didemnum vexillum, was found in the Lough in 2012.[10]

Tidal electricity

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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, took advantage of the fast tidal flow in the lough which can be up to 4 m/s. Although the generator was powerful enough to power up to a thousand homes, the turbine had a minimal environmental impact, as it was almost entirely submerged, and the rotors turned slowly enough that they pose no danger to wildlife.[11][12][13]

In 2008 a tidal energy device called Evopod was tested in Strangford Lough near the Portaferry Ferry landing.[14] The device was a 1/10 scale prototype, monitored by Queen's University Belfast. The device was a semi-submerged floating tidal turbine, moored to the seabed via a buoy-mounted swivel. The scale device was not grid connected.

Sports

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Strangford Lough Canoe Trail

In July 2016, the Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership, Scottish Coastal Rowing Association, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and Ards and North Down Borough Council hosted the "Skiffie Worlds 2016" rowing championships. The event was attended by 50 clubs from Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, The United States, Canada and Tasmania. Racing was held over a 2 km course on Strangford Lough at Delamont Country Park.[15]

Ferry

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The Portaferry–Strangford ferry

The Portaferry–Strangford ferry service has linked Portaferry and Strangford, at the mouth of the Lough, without a break and for almost four centuries.[16] The alternative road journey is 47 miles (76 km) and takes about an hour and a half, while the ferry crosses the 0.6-nautical-mile (0.69 mi; 1.1 km) strait in 8 minutes.[17] The subsidised public service carries both passengers and vehicles, and operates at a loss of more than £1m per year but is viewed as an important transport link to the Ards Peninsula.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hughes, A. J.; Hannan, R. J. Place-Names of Northern Ireland. Vol. 2. Queen's University Belfast. pp. 5–7. ISBN 085389-450-7.
  2. ^ "The Natural History of Strangford Lough". culturenorthernireland.org. 31 October 2005. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  3. ^ Hackney, P. (Ed) 1992. Stewart & Corry's Flora of the North-east of Ireland. Third Edition. Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast. ISBN 0 85389 446 9 (HB)
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Brown, R. 1990. Strangford Lough. The Wildlife of an Irish Sea Lough. The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast
  6. ^ Morton, O. 1994. Marine Algae of Northern Ireland. Ulster Museum, Belfast. ISBN 0-900761-28-8
  7. ^ BirdLife International (2016) Important Bird and Biodiversity Area factsheet: Strangford Lough and islands. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org Archived 2007-07-10 at the Wayback Machine on 17/08/2016
  8. ^ "Hands on Nature - Strangford". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  9. ^ Gallagher, L. and Rogers, D. 1986 Castle, Coast and Cottage The National Trust in Northern Ireland. The Blackstaff ISBN 0-85640-497-7
  10. ^ "Carpet sea squirt found in Lough". Google News. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  11. ^ "The Times & The Sunday Times". thetimes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Top News". www.renewableenergyworld.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  13. ^ "Tidal energy system on full power". BBC News. 18 December 2008. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  14. ^ "First Testing of Evopod at Strangford Narrows". Ocean Flow Energy Ltd. 12 June 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  15. ^ Nolan, Caroline. "Skiffie Worlds 2016". www.strangfordlough.org. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Strangford Lough Ferry - History". Northern Ireland Roads Department. Archived from the original on 18 September 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  17. ^ "About the Ferry". Northern Ireland Roads Department. Archived from the original on 7 December 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  18. ^ "Strangford Ferry Operating at a loss". Portaferry Online. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.

Further reading

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  • Boaden, P.J.S., O'Connor, R.J. and Seed, R. The composition and zonation of a Fucus serratus community in Strangford Lough, Co. Down. J. exp. Biol. Ecol. 17: 111 - 136 (1975).
  • Crosbie, Jane E. M.; Brown, Alison (illus). Strangford's Shores: Paintings and Stories from around the Lough. Cottage Publications, 1996.
  • Deane, C.Douglas. Mammals of Strangford Lough. In Anon (Editor) Strangford Lough. 22 - 23. National Trust, Belfast, 1971.
  • Hill, Ian; Le Garsmeur, Alain (photo). Strangford: Portrait of an Irish Lough. Blackstaff Press, 2007.
  • McEarlean, Thomas, McConkey, Rosemary and Forsythe, Wes. Strangford Lough: An Archaeological Survey of the Maritime Cultural Landscape. Blackstaff Press, 2002.
  • Walsh, B. Catching the Currents. Time 173 no.4. p. 44 (2009).
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54°28′59″N 5°34′59″W / 54.483°N 5.583°W / 54.483; -5.583

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