Dogger Bank (Dutch:Doggersbank,German:Doggerbank,Danish:Doggerbanke) is a largesandbank in a shallow area of theNorth Sea about 100 kilometres (55 nautical miles) off the east coast ofEngland.
During the last ice age, the bank was part of a large landmass connectingmainland Europe and theBritish Isles, now known asDoggerland. It has long been known by fishermen to be a productivefishing bank; it was named after thedoggers, medievalDutch fishing boats especially used for catchingcod.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the area was identified as a potential site for a UKround 3 wind farm, being developed asDogger Bank Wind Farm.[1]
The name Dogger Bank was first recorded in the mid-17th century. It is probably derived from the word "dogger" used for a two-masted boat of the type that trawled for fish in the area in medieval times.[2] The area has similar names inDutch,German,Swedish, andDanish.
The bank extends over about 17,600 square kilometres (6,800 sq mi), and is about 260 by 100 kilometres (160 by 60 mi) in extent.[3] The water depth ranges from 15 to 36 metres (50 to 120 ft), about 20 metres (65 ft) shallower than the surrounding sea.[citation needed]
Geologically, the feature is most likely amoraine, formed during thePleistocene.[3] At differing times during thelast glacial period it was either joined to the mainland or an island. The bank was part of a large landmass, now known asDoggerland, which connected Britain to the European mainland until it was flooded some time after the end of the last glacial period.[4]
Fishing trawlers working the area have dredged up large amounts of moorpeat, remains ofmammoth andrhinoceros, and occasionallyPalaeolithic hunting artefacts.[5]
The1931 Dogger Bank earthquake took place below the bank, measuring 6.1 on theRichter scale and was the largest earthquake ever recorded in the United Kingdom. Itshypocentre was 23 kilometres (14 mi) beneath the bank, and the quake was felt in countries all around the North Sea, causing damage across eastern England.
South of Dogger Bank is theCleaver Bank.
Severalshipwrecks lie on the bank. In 1966, the German submarineU-Hai, aGerman Type XXIII submarine, sank during agale. 19 of 20 men died, one of the worst peacetime naval disasters in German history.
The bank is an importantfishing area, withcod andherring being caught in large numbers.Dogger Bank has been identified as an oceanic environment that exhibits high primary productivity throughout the year in the form ofphytoplankton. As such, it was proposed to designate the area aMarine Nature Reserve.[6]Under European Union legislation, the protected area has been divided between several countries, including the UK.[7]
In 2025, an international coalition of six organizations, the IrishAtlantic Technological University, theBlue Marine Foundation from the UK, German organizationBUND, the Danish chapter of theWWF, the Dutch ARK Rewilding Netherlands, and the Embassy of the North Sea, led by the Doggerland Foundation in the Netherlands, launched the Rewilding Dogger Bank program, in an effort to restore and protect the area.[8][9] The three-year initiative is set to act on several fronts, from legal actions aimed at protecting the areas from harmful activities, to the restoration ofnorthern horsemussel reefs, and a greater representation of the area's marine life in key decisions.[10]
In September 2020,Greenpeace dropped several granite boulders from their shipEsperanza on the Dogger Bank area. Concerns had been raised when asupertrawler had been seen off theYorkshire coast. The action undertaken by Greenpeace had support from some of those in the fishing trade.The large granite rocks are harmless to marine life and surface fishing, but they get entangled in the weighted nets of bottom trawlers, obstructing the practice. A Greenpeace spokesperson said "how can you continue to allow bottom trawlers to plough the seabed in a protected area? .... [it] is the equivalent to allowing bulldozers to plough through a protected forest."[11]
The Dogger Bank was selected for offshore wind farms because it is far away from shore, avoiding complaints about the visual impact of wind turbines. Yet, the water is shallow enough for traditional fixed-foundation wind turbine designs.[12]Fixed-foundation wind turbines are economically limited to maximum water depths of 40 to 50 m (130 to 160 ft; 22 to 27 fathoms);[13] at greater water depths newfloating wind turbine designs are required, which currently cost significantly more to build.[14]
In January 2010, a licence to develop awind farm on Dogger Bank was granted toForewind Ltd, a consortium of developers. Projected initially to generate up to 9gigawatts of power as part of a planned nine zone project of 32 gigawatts, the plan was later scaled down to a 7.2-gigawatt installation in agreement with the area's ownerCrown Estates.[15]
Construction was scheduled to start around 2014 at the earliest but has been repeatedly postponed.[16]
Dutch, German, and Danish electrical grid operators are cooperating in a project to build aNorth Sea Wind Power Hub complex on one or more artificial islands to be constructed on Dogger Bank as part of a European system for sustainable electricity. At the North Seas Energy Forum in Brussels on 23 March 2017,Energinet.dk will sign a contract to work with the German and Dutch branches ofTenneT; after that, a feasibility study will be produced.[17][18]
The sea shanty "Sailing Over The Dogger Bank" is themed around the sandbank. It is also known for being heard in theSpongeBob SquarePants episode "Sailor Mouth".
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