Wildlife
The car ferries from Gijón to Nantes/Saint-Nazaire, Portsmouth to Bilbao and from Plymouth, Portsmouth and Poole to Santander provide one of the most convenient ways to see cetaceans in European waters. Often specialist groups take the ferries to hear more information.
Volunteers and employees of Biscay Dolphin Research regularly observe and monitor cetacean activity from the bridge of the ships on the P&O Ferries Portsmouth to Bilbao route. Many species of whales and dolphins can be seen in this area. Most importantly, it is one of the few places where the beaked whales, such as the Cuvier's beaked whale, have been observed relatively frequently. This is the best study area in the world for beaked whales.
The best areas to see the larger cetaceans lie in the deep waters beyond the continental shelf, particularly over the Santander Canyon and Torrelavega Canyon in the south of the Bay.
The three-day round trip also gives sightings of good numbers of several species of seabirds, particularly gannets.
The alga Colpomenia peregrina was introduced and first noticed in 1906 by oyster fishermen in the Bay of Biscay.
Read more about this topic: Bay Of Biscay
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