Skälder Bay ( sv, Skälderviken) is a bay in
Skåne County
Skåne County ( sv, Skåne län, link=no ), sometimes referred to as Scania County in English, is the most southern county, or , of Sweden, basically corresponding to the traditional province Scania. It borders the counties of Halland, Kronobe ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. It is an inlet of the
Kattegat
The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...
on the western coast of Scania, located between the Bjäre Peninsula to the north (which separates it from
Laholm Bay) and the Kullen Peninsula to the south (which separates it from
Øresund
Øresund or Öresund (, ; da, Øresund ; sv, Öresund ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width v ...
). The town of
Ängelholm
Ängelholm is a locality and the seat of Ängelholm Municipality in Skåne, Sweden with 39,612 inhabitants in 2010.
History
The old settlement ''Rynestad'' was mentioned around the year 1600.
The city was founded in 1516 as Engelholm by King Chri ...
is located at the head of the bay.
Its depth at the entrance is between , gradually rising towards the head of the bay. The bottom is rocky near the northeastern and southwestern shores, but it is mostly sand and clay in the central part.
A portion of the southern shores and waters of the bay are part of the Skälderviken Ramsar site. Designated since 2001, the site is of national importance for commercial fishing, since it is an important spawning ground, nursery, and feeding area, especially for the Atlantic herring (''
Clupea harengus
Atlantic herring (''Clupea harengus'') is a herring in the family Clupeidae. It is one of the most abundant fish species in the world. Atlantic herrings can be found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, congregating in large schools. They can ...
''), the Atlantic cod (''
Gadus morhua
The Atlantic cod (''Gadus morhua'') is a benthopelagic fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as cod or codling.[Philomachus pugnax
The ruff (''Calidris pugnax'') is a medium-sized wading bird that breeds in marshes and wet meadows across northern Eurasia. This highly gregarious sandpiper is migratory and sometimes forms huge flocks in its winter grounds, which include so ...]
''), bar-tailed godwit (''
Limosa lapponica
The bar-tailed godwit (''Limosa lapponica'') is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family (biology), family Scolopacidae, which feeds on Polychaete, bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal Mudflat, mudflats and Estuary, estuaries. It has ...
''), and the common kingfisher (''
Alcedo atthis
The common kingfisher (''Alcedo atthis''), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of ...
'') breed and winter there.
References
External links
Bays of Sweden
Landforms of Skåne County
Ramsar sites in Sweden
{{Sweden-geo-stub