Why Crossing The Bay Of Biscay Dangerous?

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Some of the fiercest weather conditions of the Atlantic Ocean happen in the Bay of Biscay. It is home to large storms during the winter months, and there have been countless shipwrecks that have resulted from the gruesome weather.

Location

Located in the Celtic Sea, a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean is called the Bay of Biscay. It is located in the northern coast of Spain and the western coast of France and is named after the Spanish province of Biscay.

The average depth of the bay is 1745 meters and the maximum depth is 2790 meters and parts of the continental shelf extend into the bay those results into fairly shallow water at places.

How Long Does it Take to Cross the Bay of Biscay?

It usually takes a day to cross the Bay of Biscay. Making a stop in the bay may extend journey time to two days but it rarely takes longer than two days. This depends a lot of the ship and how fast it is going of course!

Reputation of Bay of Biscay

The Bay of Biscay has a reputation for bad weather and rough seas. In May 2000 two yachts faced disastrous journey even when they left with no signs of bad weather in the Bay of Biscay. 

For a long time stories about mishaps in this part of the sea have been going around. During WWII the German U-boats have witnessed many British and American vessels sink in these waters.

Additional info

There was an opportunity to see some cool sea wildlife. Many different species of whales and dolphins can be seen in the Bay of Biscay, including beaked whales, minke whales, fin whales, harbor porpoises, short-beaked common dolphins, striped dolphins, long-finned pilot whales, sperm whales, and the northern bottlenose whale. Scaleless dragonfish are native to the Bay of Biscay. 

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Source: navigatecontent.com