| Swatch of No Ground Marine Protected Area সোয়াচ অফ নো গ্রাউন্ড মেরিন সংরক্ষিত এলাকা | |
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  Location of Swatch of No Ground in Bangladesh | |
| Location | Bay of Bengal,Bangladesh |
| Nearest city | Bagerhat |
| Coordinates | 21°15′00″N89°28′00″E / 21.2500°N 89.4667°E /21.2500; 89.4667 |
| Area | 1738 sq km |
| Established | 2014 |
| Governing body | Forest Department,Government of Bangladesh |
Swatch of No Ground Marine Protected Area is aprotected area ofBangladesh in theBay of Bengal. The reserve covers an area of 1,636 km2 (632 sq mi).[1]
It was established on 26 October 2014, making it the first Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the country. The area hosts important habitats for several endangered creatures such as various species ofdolphins andwhales.[2]
The Swatch of No Ground (SoNG) is a 14 km wide trench in the Bay of Bengal. It is located 30 km from Dublar Char Islands, located in theSundarbans. This deepest trench has a record size of about 1340 meters (400–450 m deeper than the surrounding mean seafloor depth of 1000 m).[3] It has an average depth of about 1,200 meters underwater. This underwater trench is a part of the Bengal Fan, the largest underwater fan in the world.[4][5] The fan in the Bay of Bengal, south of theGanges-Brahmaputra delta, is also known as Ganga Fan.
The area has notable biodiversity of oceanic fauna such as cetaceans, sea turtles, fish, and sea birds. Among these, local populations of cetaceans have been the primal focus of past studies; core species includeBryde's whales,spinner dolphins,Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins,Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins,pantropical spotted dolphins,Irrawaddy dolphins,Indo-Pacific finless porpoises, and species with less-frequency includeminke whales,rough-toothed dolphins andfalse killer whales.[6][7] Some of these species are genetically unique and endangered.[8]
There are a number of other notable species in the area, such aswhale sharks,hammerhead sharks,tunas,groupers,hawksbill turtles,olive ridley turtles,masked boobies,great black-backed gulls,crested terns,swimming crabs, and so on.[7]