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Cleaver Bank
The Cleaver Bank (Dutch: ''Klaverbank)'' is a sandbank in the North Sea about off the west coast of the Netherlands and south of the Dogger Bank. The size of the bank is about 1235 km2. The bank is 30-40 metres below sea level. The Cleaver Bank is an open-sea reef in the terms of the European Habitats directive and has been registered with the European Union as a Natura 2000 site. The bank originated as a terminal moraine of a glacier during one of the Ice Ages. The surface of the bank partly consists of gravel and larger cobbles. Due to the relatively great depth of the Cleaver Bank, the soil is only seldom, in very heavy weather, moved by wave action. Because the gravel is relatively poor in silt and the transparency is great, there is enough light to allow for the growth of calcareous red algae. The benthic fauna on the bank contains species that live on a hard substrate, such as sea anemones and polyps. Rare species living on Cleaver Bank are Thracia convexa and the Rayed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyp (zoology)
A polyp in zoology is one of two forms found in the phylum Cnidaria, the other being the medusa. Polyps are roughly cylindrical in shape and elongated at the axis of the vase-shaped body. In solitary polyps, the aboral (opposite to oral) end is attached to the substrate by means of a disc-like holdfast called a pedal disc, while in colonies of polyps it is connected to other polyps, either directly or indirectly. The oral end contains the mouth, and is surrounded by a circlet of tentacles. Classes In the class Anthozoa, comprising the sea anemones and corals, the individual is always a polyp; in the class Hydrozoa, however, the individual may be either a polyp or a medusa, with most species undergoing a life cycle with both a polyp stage and a medusa stage. In class Scyphozoa, the medusa stage is dominant, and the polyp stage may or may not be present, depending on the family. In those scyphozoans that have the larval planula metamorphose into a polyp, the polyp, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marine Protected Area
Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conservation purpose, typically to protect natural or cultural resources. Such marine resources are protected by local, state, territorial, native, regional, national, or international authorities and differ substantially among and between nations. This variation includes different limitations on development, fishing practices, fishing seasons and catch limits, moorings and bans on removing or disrupting marine life. In some situations (such as with the Phoenix Islands Protected Area), MPAs also provide revenue for countries, potentially equal to the income that they would have if they were to grant companies permissions to fish. The value of MPA to mobile species is unknown. There are a number of global examples of large marine conservation are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental impact assessment" is usually used when applied to actual projects by individuals or companies and the term " strategic environmental assessment" (SEA) applies to policies, plans and programmes most often proposed by organs of state. It is a tool of environmental management forming a part of project approval and decision-making. Environmental assessments may be governed by rules of administrative procedure regarding public participation and documentation of decision making, and may be subject to judicial review. The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision makers consider the environmental impacts when deciding whether or not to proceed with a project. The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) defines an enviro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-beaked Dolphin
The white-beaked dolphin (''Lagenorhynchus albirostris'') is a marine mammal belonging to the family Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins) in the suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales). Taxonomy The species was first described by the British taxonomist John Edward Gray in 1846. Due to its relative abundance in European waters, it was among the first of the genus ''Lagenorhynchus'' (''lagenos'', Latin for "bottle" or "flask"; ''rhynchos'', "beak" or "snout") to be known to science. Its specific name, ''albirostris'', translates to "white beak", a reference to the color of the species' beak, a diagnostic (albeit variable) trait useful in identification. Description The white-beaked dolphin is a robust species of dolphin with a short beak. Adults can reach long and weigh . Calves are long at birth and probably weigh about . The upper body and flanks are dark grey with light grey patches, including a 'saddle' behind the dorsal fin, while the underside is light grey to almost white in colo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minke Whale
The minke whale (), or lesser rorqual, is a species complex of baleen whale. The two species of minke whale are the common (or northern) minke whale and the Antarctic (or southern) minke whale. The minke whale was first described by the Danish naturalist Otto Fabricius in 1780, who assumed it must be an already known species and assigned his specimen to ''Balaena rostrata'', a name given to the northern bottlenose whale by Otto Friedrich Müller in 1776. In 1804, Bernard Germain de Lacépède described a juvenile specimen of ''Balaenoptera acuto-rostrata''. The name is a partial translation of Norwegian ''minkehval'', possibly after a Norwegian whaler named Meincke, who mistook a northern minke whale for a blue whale. Taxonomy Most modern classifications split the minke whale into two species; * Common minke whale or northern minke whale (''Balaenoptera acutorostrata'') :and *Antarctic minke whale or southern minke whale (''Balaenoptera bonaerensis''). Taxonomists further categ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harbour Porpoise
The harbour porpoise (''Phocoena phocoena'') is one of eight extant species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest species of cetacean. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar porpoise to whale watchers. This porpoise often ventures up rivers, and has been seen hundreds of kilometres from the sea. The harbour porpoise may be polytypic, with geographically distinct populations representing distinct races: ''P. p. phocoena'' in the North Atlantic and West Africa, ''P. p. relicta'' in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, an unnamed population in the northwestern Pacific and ''P. p. vomerina'' in the northeastern Pacific. Taxonomy The English word porpoise comes from the French (Old French , 12th century), which is from Medieval Latin , which is a compound of ''porcus'' (pig) and (fish). The old word is probably a loan-translation of a Germanic word, compare Danish ''marsvin'' and Middle Dutch ''mereswijn'' (sea swin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcyonium Digitatum
''Alcyonium digitatum'' or dead man's fingers is a species of soft coral in the family Alcyoniidae. It is found around the coasts of the northern Atlantic Ocean and other temperate waters such as the South Pacific. Description Dead man's fingers is a colonial coral forming clumps of yellow, white or cream-coloured fleshy masses of finger-like lobes. The surface layer include many sclerites which form a crust. The individual polyps are white and translucent, and project from the leathery surface when feeding, giving the colony a furry appearance. Distribution and habitat Dead man's fingers is found along the Atlantic coasts of north west Europe from Portugal to Norway, most recently being discovered in the unchartered waters of Jammerbugt bay off the north-west coast of Denmark by a 2020 seafloor mapping project led by explorer Klaus Thymann. The species also occurs in parts of Canada, northeastern coast of the United States, the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy and the norther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herring
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, including the Baltic Sea, as well as off the west coast of South America. Three species of ''Clupea'' (the type genus of the herring family Clupeidae) are recognised, and comprise about 90% of all herrings captured in fisheries. The most abundant of these species is the Atlantic herring, which comprises over half of all herring capture. Fish called herring are also found in the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, and Bay of Bengal. Herring played an important role in the history of marine fisheries in Europe, and early in the 20th century, their study was fundamental to the development of fisheries science. These oily fish also have a long history as an important food fish, and are often salted, smoked, or pickled. Herring are also known as "sil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rayed Artemis
''Dosinia exoleta'', common name the rayed artemis, is a saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae The Veneridae or venerids, common name: Venus clams, are a very large family of minute to large, saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs. Over 500 living species of venerid bivalves are known, most of which are edible, and many of which are e ..., the venus clams. Description The shell of an adult ''Dosinia exoleta'' can be as large as . These shells can be white, yellowish or pale brown, with darker blotches. They are circular in shape, with a concentric sculpture of fine ribs. They have a very good flavour. File:Dosinia exoleta var. interrupta 01.jpg, ''Dosinia exoleta'' var. ''interrupta'', right valve File:Dosinia exoleta var. interrupta 02.jpg, ''Dosinia exoleta'' var. ''interrupta'', left valve File:Dosinia exoleta var. ponderosa 01.jpg, ''Dosinia exoleta var. ponderosa'', right valve File:Dosinia exoleta var. ponderosa 02.jpg, ''Dosinia e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thracia Convexa
''Thracia convexa'' is a bivalve mollusc in the family Thraciidae. Description ''Thracia convexa'' grows to about 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in length. The shell is inflated and brittle and the right valve is slightly larger and more convex than the left one. The outline is roughly triangular with the anterior end rounded and the posterior end somewhat elongated. The surface is sculptured with fine concentric lines and a slight ridge extends from the umbone to the margin of the valve on the posterior end. There are both external and internal ligaments joining the valves and there are no teeth on the hinge. On the inside of the valve, the posterior adductor muscle scar is large and triangular while the anterior one is long and thin. The pallial sinus is small. The valves gape at the posterior end where the two separate sinuses emerge. The colour of the valves is white both outside and inside and the periostracum, when present, is yellowish green. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Anemone
Sea anemones are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates of the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classified in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, subclass Hexacorallia. As cnidarians, sea anemones are related to corals, jellyfish, tube-dwelling anemones, and ''hydra (genus), Hydra''. Unlike jellyfish, sea anemones do not have a Jellyfish#Life history and behavior, medusa stage in their life cycle. A typical sea anemone is a single polyp (zoology), polyp attached to a hard surface by its base, but some species live in soft sediment, and a few float near the surface of the water. The polyp has a columnar trunk topped by an oral disc with a ring of tentacles and a central mouth. The tentacles can be retracted inside the body cavity or expanded to catch passing prey. They are armed with cnidocytes (stinging cells). In many species, additional n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
