What marine life lives in the North Sea?

What marine life lives in the North Sea?

Fish and shellfish Over 230 species of fish live in the North Sea. Cod, haddock, whiting, saithe, plaice, sole, mackerel, herring, pouting, sprat, and sandeel are all very common and are fished commercially.

What fish are common in the North Sea?

Today mainly mackerel, Atlantic cod, whiting, coalfish, European plaice, and sole are caught. In addition, common shrimp, lobster, and crab, along with a variety of shellfish are harvested.

What lives at the bottom of the North Sea?

Worms, crustaceans and shellfish live in holes and tunnels under the surface of the sea floor. If you look closely, you can identify quite a lot of life on the bottom: crabs and sea snails, such as laver spire shells and periwinkles, crawl around. Lots of other animals are attached to stones or ship wrecks.

Is there whales in the North Sea?

Distribution of whales in the North Sea Large whales are rare in the North Sea. Only the minke whale, the smallest baleen whale, is regularly seen in the northern half of the North Sea. In recent years, since the millennium, humpback whales have also been spotted regularly off the Dutch coast.

What animals live in the North Sea UK?

The North Sea is unique in terms of its sheer diversity and abundance of marine wildlife. It supports over 230 different species of fish, thousands of seabirds and an exciting variety of whales, dolphins and sharks. In an ecosystem, of which the North Sea is a giant example, all life depends on each other.

What animals live in the sea around the UK?

9 marvellous marine species to spot around the UK this summer

• Minke whales, Small Isles. A minke whale surfaces the water (Shutterstock)
• Bottlenose dolphins, Ceredigion.
• Humpback whales, The Shetlands.
• Harbour porpoises, Anglesey.
• Orcas, Orkney.
• Grey seals, Farne Islands.
• Basking sharks, Isle of Man.
• Puffins, Skomer.

Are there Stingrays in the North Sea?

There is a lot of talk going on about the fact, if there are ‘many rays’ in the North Sea. Most abundant species are now the starry ray (Raja montagui) and the common stingray (Dasyatis pastinica). …

Are there tuna in the North Sea?

Much like its relative the Pacific bluefin tuna, the Atlantic bluefin tuna is a very popular and highly prized food fish. As a result, more and more bluefin tuna are sighted in both the North Sea, in the Mediterranean and in British waters.

What animals crawl on the sea floor?

These include animals such as sea cucumbers, sea stars, crustaceans and some worms. Other animals need to have something solid to attach themselves to the seafloor, such as sponges, hard and soft corals and some anemones.

Is the North Sea very polluted?

The North Sea has seen high levels of oil pollution for the past many decades with Dunnet et al. (1987) indicating that, since the early years of the twentieth century, oil pollution at sea continuously caused the contamination and deaths of seabirds.

What predators are in the North Sea?

Sharks in North Sea

• What sharks are there in the North Sea?
• Bramble shark (Echinorhinus brucus)
• Angular roughshark (Oxynotus centrina)
• Kitefin shark (Dalatias licha)
• Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus)
• Spurdog shark / Spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias)
• Portuguese dogfish (Centroscymnus coelolepis)

Are there dolphins in the UK waters?

The species most commonly sighted around the UK coast are bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises. There are populations of bottlenose dolphins in Cardigan Bay in Wales and the Moray Firth in Scotland, but smaller groups or individuals may be seen almost anywhere.

How many species of fish are in the North Sea?

List of fish of the North Sea From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia List of fish of the North Sea consists of 201 species, both indigenous, and also introduced, listed in systematic index. It includes 40 species of Chondrichthyes, three species of Agnatha, the other are bony fishes.

Which is cetaceans are found in the North Sea?

The term cetacean is the collective name for several orders of sea creatures including the baleen whales and toothed whales (dolphins and porpoises). Several species are found in the North Sea: Some species whose ranges border the Southern North Sea occasionally stray into these waters.

What kind of animals live in the ocean?

What Animals Live in the Ocean? 1. Invertebrates. Moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita. While shellfish are exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates consumed… 2. Sharks. Bull shark, carcharhinus leucas, Bega lagoon, Fiji. Although sharks are also a type of fish, they deserve… 3. Seabirds. Two Atlantic

Are there any Sharks in the North Sea?

Houndsharks live predominantly in tropical and subtropical seas but also in the colder waters of Europe. This shark is also at home in the North Sea, but hardly any species lives in the open seas. Houndsharks prefer sandy or gravelly bottoms. Is the houndshark dangerous for humans?