Irish Sea

Irish Sea
Irish Sea at Blackpool
Connects waters	St. George's Canal
with water	North channel
Separates land mass	Ireland
of land mass	Great Britain
surface	46.007 km²
volume	2800 km³
Data
Geographical location	53 ° 43 '18 "  N , 5 ° 10' 38"  W Coordinates: 53 ° 43 '18 "  N , 5 ° 10' 38"  W.
Coastal towns	Liverpool , Dublin , Blackpool
Islands	Isle of Man , Anglesey
Irish Sea satellite image

The Irish Sea ( Irish Muir Éireann , English Irish Sea , Welsh Môr Iwerddon ) separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain .

geography

Sea depths borders and ports of the Irish Sea:
◘ = ferry port / ◘ = commercial port only

The Irish Sea is connected in the south by the St. George's Channel (between Ireland and Wales ) with the Celtic Sea and in the north by the North Channel (between Ireland and Scotland ) with the Scottish Sea and thus with the open Atlantic .

The sea area is 46,000 km², the volume 2800 km³ with an average depth of only 52 meters.

According to the valid definition of the International Hydrographic Organization from 1953 and the working draft from 2002, the North Channel is included in the Scottish Sea , the largest part of the St. George's Channel in the Irish Sea. This St. George's Canal in the narrower sense makes up about 40% of the Irish Sea in the broader sense, the Irish Sea in the narrower sense 60%.

At the transition between the two lies the largest island in this sea off the coast of Wales , Anglesey with 714 km². The second largest is the Isle of Man with 572 km² in the middle of the Irish Sea in the strict sense. There are a few much smaller other islands off the coasts of Ireland, Wales and the Isle of Man.

ecology

The Irish Sea is a spawning area for North Sea mackerel .

Radioactive waste water from the Sellafield nuclear facility is discharged into the Irish Sea .

At the same time, there are several offshore wind farms in the Irish Sea (see also list of offshore wind farms ).

Ferry connections

Ireland ferries north of the Irish Sea:

• Cairnryan (Council Area Dumfries and Galloway ) ↔ Larne
• Stranraer ↔ Belfast

Ferries across the Irish Sea:

• Isle of Man ↔ Belfast
• Heysham ↔ Isle of Man
• Heysham ↔ Warrenpoint (District Newry, Morne and Down )
• Liverpool ↔ Isle of Man , Belfast , Dublin
• Birkenhead ↔ Isle of Man , Belfast , Dublin
• Holyhead ↔ Dún Laoghaire , Dublin
• Pembroke , Fishguard ↔ Rosslare Harbor

Ireland ferries south of the Irish Sea:

• Swansea , Fishguard ↔ Cork
• Roscoff ( Finistère ) ↔ Rosslare Harbor , Cork

In the past there have also been plans to make the crossing of the Irish Sea easier with the help of a tunnel .

Web links

• www.gov.uk: MJ Howard, Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (National Oceanography Center, Liverpool) internal report No. 174 (2004): Hydrography of the Irish Sea - Sea 6 Technical Report . All data cover the entire Irish Sea and not just the UK share “Sea 6” (see introduction). In the appendix maps on sea depths, tides, storms, salinity.
• International Hydrographic Organization , Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition (1953) (accessed Oct. 23, 2014)
• Google search “IHO St Georges Channel Ireland” → www.iho.int/mtg_docs/com_wg/S-23WG/.../S-23_Draft_2002_NORTH_ATLANTIC.doc

Commons : Irish Sea  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IHO Marine Regions ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ^ Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition (1953) (accessed Oct. 23, 2014)
3. ↑ IHO PUBLICATION S-23, Limits of Oceans and Seas, Draft 4th Edition, 2002
4. ↑ Complete blocking is discussed on taz.de.