Skomer Marine Conservation Zone is an underwater

marine nature reserve Marine nature reserve (MNR) is a conservation designation officially awarded by a government to a marine reserve of national significance. Republic of Ireland Lough Hyne, a marine lake off of County Cork, is Ireland's only marine nature reserve. Un ...

located off the coast of

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The nature reserve completely surrounds the islands of

Skomer Skomer () or Skomer Island is an island off the coast of Pembrokeshire, in the community of Marloes and St Brides in west Wales. It is well known for its wildlife: around half the world's population of Manx shearwaters nest on the island, the A ...

and Middleholm, and encompasses the mainland coastline around the end of the Marloes peninsula, including the small bay of

Martin's Haven Martin's Haven is a small, north-facing cove in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK, on the Dale Peninsula, with views across St Bride's Bay towards St David's. It is recorded by the Royal Commission as a historic place name. Features The Haven's shingle ...

. The sea bed and rocky shelves of the island are teeming with life. Common eelgrass, ''

Zostera marina ''Zostera marina'' is a flowering vascular plant species as one of many kinds of seagrass, with this species known primarily by the English name of eelgrass with seawrack much less used, and refers to the plant after breaking loose from the subme ...

'', one of the very few plants that flower underwater, grows on beds of sand and gravel in sheltered waters and its long, grass-like leaves form underwater lawns that provide food and shelter for other plants and animals. Species of lobsters, crabs and other

crustaceans Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...

abound, and

grey seal The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or "earless seals". The only species classified in the genus ''Halichoerus'', it is found on both shores of the Nort ...

s give birth on the coast in October and November.

History

Although the island of Skomer had long been a protected area, the Marine Nature Reserve was not established until 1990. It was one of only three Marine Nature Reserves in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Since the introduction of

Marine Conservation Zone A Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) is a type of marine nature reserve in United Kingdom, UK waters. They were established under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009) and are areas designated with the aim to prot ...

s in 2013, there has been a larger network of marine reserves in the UK. Skomer itself was reclassified as a Marine Conservation Zone in December 2014.

Related protected area

In 2004 Pembrokeshire Marine SAC was designated. The SAC is much larger than the nature reserve at 132,174 ha.BirdLife International (2015)
Important Bird Areas factsheet: Skokholm and Skomer
Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 11/04/2015

References

External links

Photos of Skomer Marine Nature Reserve and surrounding area on geograph
* Marine reserves of Wales National nature reserves in Wales Protected areas established in 1990 1990 establishments in Wales {{Pembrokeshire-geo-stub

History

Related protected area

See also

References

External links