The Princess Alice Bank () is a submerged seamount located southwest of the island of

Pico Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribe ...

and southwest of the island of Faial in the Portuguese archipelago of the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

. The western area of the bank has a least depth of ,''Sailing Directions (Enroute). West Coast of Europe and Northwest Africa.'' Pub. 143, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Springfield, Virginia 2017, page 195 (, 16.8 MB). with clear waters allowing observation of the ocean floor from the surface. With an abundance of biodiversity, the bank is a

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

area, in addition to being an important

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

spot of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

History

The bank was named after the oceanographic campaign of

Prince Albert I of Monaco Albert I (Albert Honoré Charles Grimaldi; 13 November 1848 – 26 June 1922) was Prince of Monaco from 10 September 1889 until his death in 1922. He devoted much of his life to oceanography, exploration and science. Alongside his expeditions, ...

, whose research vessel ''Princess Alice'' was involved in its discovery on 9 July 1896. On that day, at 6:00 a.m., at the beginning of a deep water exploration, rocky ledges were discovered deep. After scouring the area, the group discovered an extensive "platform", with a perimeter of about , and two extensions of in length. The platform was below the surface, although the peak is only from the surface. The

bathymetric Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors ('' seabed topography''), river floors, or lake floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of water ...

survey was entrusted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Charlwood Henry Carr Charlwood is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. It is immediately north-west of London Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, close west of Horley and north of Crawley. The Historic counties of England, historic ...

^d (1848-1918), who was also the prince's field assistant and navigator of the ''Princesse Alice''. Carr was responsible for the original depth measurements at Princess Alice Bank. On 13 July 1896, from Faial, Prince Albert telegrammed King Carlos I of Portugal announcing the discovery and informing him of the usefulness of the bank for fishing. Returning to

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, on 21 August, the prince circulated a press statement reporting the discovery and stressing its importance to Azorean fisheries. In gratitude for the discovery, King Carlos awarded the prince with the "grand collar" of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...

, having already granted Captain Carr the honorific degree of master of the

Order of St. Benedict The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they a ...

in 1894. Increasingly Princess Alice Bank has become one of the main areas for fishing exploration within the Central Group of the Azorean islands.

Geography

An area of around the bank, measured from the coasts of the closest islands, was established by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

as a reserve for Azorean fishermen. Princess Alice Bank is one of the main points of friction, or disagreement, in the current dispute between the Regional Government of the Azores and the European Union regarding the reform of the

common fisheries policy The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fishery, fisheries policy of the European Union (EU). It sets quotas for which Member state of the European Union, member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishin ...

References

External links

*
Dive at Princess Alice Bank
*

*

{{coord, 37, 55, N, 31, 30, W, region:PT_type:isle_source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title Geology of the Azores Fishing areas of the Atlantic Ocean Seamounts of the Atlantic Ocean Undersea banks of the Atlantic Ocean