.JPG web.JPG "Common dolphins (Credit Eleanor Stone, Manx Wildlife Trust)")
Common dolphins (Credit Eleanor Stone, Manx Wildlife Trust)
Celtic Deep is an important aggregation area for seabirds, common dolphins.
The area is particularly important for its deep water mud habitats, which are rare for this region.
The southern tip of the Celtic Deep is 112km north-west of Trevose Head and the western tip is 84km from the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales.
Important frontal systems occur here during summer indicating its value as an area of high productivity, which is supported by the recording of large aggregations of copepods. Copepods are essential for the health of the marine food web and contribute to the diet of the second largest fish in the world, the basking shark.
Celtic Deep is an important aggregation area for seabirds and common dolphins. One of the largest ever known gatherings of fin whales in British waters was recently observed here!
This recommended Marine Conservation Zone is ON HOLD at the moment as Defra has indicated that there is a need to better understand the implications of designation of the site on the non-UK commercial fishing sector
We need you to urge the Government to gather this information as soon as possible and to consider designation of this site as an urgent and high priority for designation in the future.
This site is on hold at the moment. If designated, it would represent the second largest area of subtidal mud in the region. Intense levels of human activity within the site has resulted in Celtic Deep being classified as at risk by Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee- there is a high risk that the habitats and species found in this site are currently damaged or deteriorated.
This site had strong support for designation from conservationists and Defra has indicated that there is enough ecological evidence to support designation of this site. However, it remains on hold as Defra has indicated that further work is required to understand the implications of designation of the site on the non-UK commercial fishing sector.
We need you to urge Defra to gather this information as soon as possible and to consider designation of this site as an urgent and high priority for designation in the future.
Contains UKHO Law of the Sea data. Crown copyright and database right and
contains Ordnance Survey Data Crown copyright and database 2012
Other nearby MCZs
Downloads
| Filename | File size |
|---|---|
| Celtic Deep.pdf | 273.42 KB |