Editing Bay of Biscay (section)

==Wildlife==

=== Plaiaundi Ecology Park ===
The [[Plaiaundi|Plaiaundi Ecology Park]] is a 24-hectare coastal wetland lying where the [[Bidasoa|Bidasoa River]] meets the sea in the Bay of Biscay.The nature of [[Plaiaundi]] consists of a wide variety of [[flora]] (visitors view them mainly in the spring) and [[fauna]] (visitors with binoculars arrive all during the year, because of the birds' migratory habits). This nature park contains a variety of [[bird]]s, [[reptile]]s, [[mammal]]s and [[insect]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-02-22 |title=Plaiaundi Ecology Park {{!}} Plans to know the Basque Country {{!}} Tourism E… |url=http://tourism.euskadi.net/en/plans-to-know-the-basque-country/plaiaundi-ecology-park/x65-12375/en |access-date=2021-07-24 |website=archive.is |archive-date=2013-02-22 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130222052140/http://tourism.euskadi.net/en/plans-to-know-the-basque-country/plaiaundi-ecology-park/x65-12375/en |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Marine mammals===
{{See also|Whale watching}}
The car ferries from [[Gijón]] to [[Nantes]]/[[Saint-Nazaire]], [[Portsmouth]] to [[Bilbao]] and from [[Plymouth]], [[Portsmouth]] and [[Poole]] to [[Santander, Cantabria|Santander]] provide one of the most convenient ways to see [[cetacean]]s in European waters. Often specialist groups take the ferries to collect more information. Volunteers and employees of ORCA regularly observe and monitor cetacean activity from the [[Bridge (nautical)|bridge]] of the ships on [[Brittany Ferries]]' Portsmouth to Santander route. Many species of [[whale]]s and [[dolphin]]s can be seen in this area. Most importantly, it is one of the few places in the world where the [[beaked whale]]s, such as the [[Cuvier's beaked whale]], have been observed relatively frequently. Biscay Dolphin Research monitored cetacean activity from the [[P&O Ferries]] cruise ferry ''[[Pride of Bilbao]]'', on voyages from Portsmouth to Bilbao.

[[North Atlantic right whale]]s, one of the most endangered species of whales, once came to the bay for feeding and probably for calving as well, but [[History of Basque whaling|whaling activities by Basque people]] almost wiped them out sometime prior to the 1850s. The eastern population of this species are considered to be almost extinct, and there has been no record of right whales in the Bay of Biscay except for a pair in 1977 (possibly a mother and calf) at {{coord|43|00|N|10|30|W}},<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Reeves, R.R. |author2=Mitchell, E. |name-list-style=amp |year=1986 |title=American pelagic whaling for right whales in the North Atlantic |journal=Report of the International Whaling Commission |issue=Special Issue 10 |pages=221–254 |url=http://iwc.int/cache/downloads/brhgc3aemagcsoos0kocgcggc/RIWC-SI10-pp221-254.pdf |access-date=2013-10-09}}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and another pair in June 1980. Other records in the late 20th century include one off [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] at {{coord|43|00|N|10|30|W}} in September 1977 reported by a whaling company and another one seen off the Iberian Peninsula.

The best areas to see the larger cetaceans are in the deep waters beyond the [[continental shelf]], particularly over the [[Santander Canyon]] and [[Torrelavega Canyon]] in the south of the Bay.

The alga ''[[Colpomenia peregrina]]'' was introduced and first noticed in 1906 by oyster fishermen in the Bay of Biscay.

''[[Grammatostomias flagellibarba]]'' (scaleless dragonfish) are native to these waters.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.fishbase.us/summary/Grammatostomias-flagellibarba.html |editor=Froese, R. |editor2=D. Pauly |journal=FishBase |year=2016 |title=Grammatostomias flagellibarba |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825214445/http://www.fishbase.us/summary/Grammatostomias-flagellibarba.html |archive-date=2015-08-25}}</ref>