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Irish Sea Facts

Irish Sea Facts
The Irish Sea is located Great Britain and Ireland. It is connected by St. George's Channel to the Celtic Sea. It is also connected to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland via the North Channel. The Irish Sea is occasionally called the Manx Sea as well. The Irish Sea is an important transportation route between Britain and Ireland. It also provides for the economy via trade, shipping, commercial fishing, and power generation. The Irish Sea covers roughly 17,763 square miles and ranges from 47 miles wide at its narrowest spot to 120 miles wide at its widest spot.
Interesting Irish Sea Facts:
Countries that have coastline on the Irish Sea include the four United Kingdom constituent countries, the Isle of Man, and the Republic of Ireland.
The largest cities on the coast of the Irish Sea include Dublin, Liverpool, Belfast, Blackpool, Southport, Birkenhead, Bangor, Barrow-in-Furness, Wallasey, and Crosby.
Some of the islands in the Irish Sea include Anglesey, Holy Island, Isle of Man, Calf of Man, Bardsey Island, Walney Island, Lambay Island, Bull Island, Barrow Island, Roa Island, and Ireland's Eye.
The fish that are removed from the Irish Sea each year commercially amount to roughly £6 billion in revenue.
There are at least 30 known shark species in the waters of the Irish Sea including the second largest fish in the world - the basking shark.
The habitats that can be found in the Irish Sea include muddy beds, rocky reefs, beds of seagrass, and honeycomb reefs.
The waters of the Irish Sea are often used for a variety of recreational activities. People can be found jet skiing, canoeing, kite surfing, wind surfing, sailing, and diving.
The Irish Sea's shallow water and strong winds make for an excellent supply of wind for wind farms offshore.
The waters in the Irish Sea are considered to be one of the most polluted in the world.
The Irish Sea is the world's most heavily nuclear contaminated sea. Because of this commercial fishing is lower than it would be otherwise.
Roughly eight million litres of nuclear waste are believed to be dumped into the Irish Sea every day from processing plants, according to Greenpeace.
Migratory birds use the Irish Sea shoreline for a stop-over. At least 21 sea bird species are known to frequent the shorelines of the Irish Sea.
There have been 12 species of whales spotted in the Irish Sea including the minke whale, fin whale, humpback whale, and North Atlantic Right Whale, as well as porpoises and dolphins.
There are least 17 offshore oil platforms and natural gas platforms in the Irish Sea.
Rivers that feed into the Irish Sea include the Clyde River, the Dee River, the Liffey River, and the Mersey River.
It is believed that at the end of the last ice age, roughly 20,000 years ago, the Irish Sea was a freshwater lake, but as the ice melted the water eventually became brackish (saline and freshwater). It became a saline water body about 10,000 years ago.


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