Swallow Sand MPA

Status: Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ)

Swallow Sand MCZ is situated in the northern North Sea where the offshore seabed is sandy with some coarser gravel and muddy patches.

Site

Situated in the northern North Sea, Swallow Sand MCZ is located where the offshore seabed is sandy with some coarser gravel and muddy patches.

The site is low energy, providing a stable sediment habitat supporting a diverse range of marine species including worms, brittlestars, bivalves and gastropods.

More detailed site information can be found in the Summary section below.

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Site Timeline

The diagram below is a summary of the key milestones involved in the selection and designation of Swallow Sand MCZ. More detail can be found in the Relevant Documentation section.

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Relevant Documentation

The documents referred to below and any other historical documents relating to Swallow Sand MCZ were produced during the selection and designation process and therefore may be out of date.  This Site Information Centre is the most up-to-date source of information for this MPA, and will reflect any additional information gathered since these documents were produced. Further information about the Marine Conservation Zone site selection process and historic MCZ advice is available on JNCC's MCZ webpages.

• Swallow Sand MCZ factsheet, map and Designation Order – includes the official description of the site designation under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The Designation Order includes boundary co-ordinates, Conservation Objectives and a list of the designated features.
• Site Summary Document – a high-level summary of the key attributes of the site including boundaries, maps and descriptive text, produced as part of the site designation consultation package.
• JNCC's formal conservation advice for this site is available in the Conservation Advice section.

These documents are available on JNCC's Resource Hub.

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Summary

Last updated: October 2017

Information for this site summary was adapted from documents listed in the Relevant Documentation section and incorporates any further information gathered since these documents were produced.

 

Site overview

Swallow Sand MCZ is located in the northern North Sea region, approximately 100 km offshore from the Northumberland coast. Subtidal sand is the most abundant feature, with evidence of patches of coarse and mixed sediments as well as mud.  It is the largest site designated in the first Tranche of MCZs, with depths ranging from approximately 50 m to 100 m and a drop down to 150 m in the channel described as Swallow Hole Glacial Tunnel Valley, situated in the north-west corner of the site.

This sediment habitat is characteristic of those found in offshore waters deeper than 30 m, experiencing low tidal stress and constituting a relatively stable habitat that supports a diverse range of marine flora and fauna due to the low energy environment, which is illustrated in the EUSeaMap 'energy due to currents' layer. Following the 2012 MCZ site verification survey, analysis was completed by the British Geological Survey (BGS) and Seastar Surveys Ltd in 2014, in order to further quantify feature extent and assign biotopes to the site. 

The three main elements of the site are sand, coarse sediment, and mud.  The analysis resulted in approximate proportions of 80% sand, 12% mud and 8% gravel.  The community analysis assigned biotopes to the features within the boundary. Four EUNIS Level 3 biotopes were established as well as four EUNIS Level 4 sub-biotopes. A newly established biotope was also described including Ditrupa arietina, an annelid worm found in samples across the site. Further detail on the evidence for this MCZ can be found in the Monitoring and Evidence section.

Site location: Co-ordinates for this MCZ can be found in the Site Summary Document, listed in the Relevant Documentation section.

Site area: Swallow Sand MCZ is a relatively large site in terms of MCZ designations, with an area of 4,746 km². This is approximately the same area as that of its neighbouring county, Northumberland.

Site depth range: Depth range in this MCZ is approximately 50–150 m (within the Swallow Hole Glacial Tunnel Valley feature) below sea-level.   

Charting Progress 2 Biogeographic Region: Region 1 – Northern North Sea.

Site boundary description: The boundary for Swallow Sand MCZ is a simple rectangle, set to include the geomorphological feature 'Swallow Hole' and broad-scale habitats that encompass coarse and sandy sediment ecosystems. The original site initially proposed included over 15,500 km² of subtidal sand, with almost half encroaching on the Dogger Bank SAC. This overlap was deemed unnecessary therefore a significant reduction in size was applied to form Swallow Sand MCZ as it is now presented, no longer encroaching into the Dogger Bank SAC area.

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Monitoring and Evidence

Last updated: November 2023

The full overview of the data used to support site identification, along with information on confidence in feature presence and extent is available in JNCC's 2013 Post-Consultation Advice. JNCC will be adding relevant survey data for this MPA to its MPA interactive map in due course. Some of the data for this MCZ has been collected through JNCC-funded or collaborative surveys and some through other means. Data from these surveys provide direct evidence confirming the presence of the protected features within the site.

 

Survey and data gathering

• CEND0118 and CEND0218 Survey Report: Swallow Sand Marine Conservation Zone (2018) – In 2018, Cefas and JNCC surveyed the Swallow Sand Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ), to collect a benthic dataset that would form the first monitoring event in a 'Before-After-Control-Impact' (BACI) study, to allow for the future evaluation of the effectiveness of proposed fisheries management measures at the site. 
• Swallow Sand MCZ 2016 Survey Report (Version 3) (2016) – In May 2016, a survey was carried out at Swallow Sand Marine Conservation Zone on the RV Cefas Endeavour cruise CEND1016. The aim of the Swallow Sands MCZ survey was to gather the initial dataset of a site monitoring time-series, that will contribute information on the habitats found at this site to inform habitat specific assessments.
• Swallow Sand MCZ Verification Survey report (2014) – JNCC collaborated on further targeted data collection at Swallow Sand MCZ as part of a combined MPA survey with Cefas. Additional ground-truthing in the form of video and still images were collected to increase the evidence base for presence and extent of features.
• Swallow Sand MCZ Verification Survey (2012) – JNCC collaborated on an MCZ verification survey with Cefas to Swallow Sand MCZ funded through the MB0120 Defra data collection programme and MB0129 Defra data and evidence coordination programme. Video, still images and acoustic data were collected across the site extent. The post-survey report covers both the 2012 and 2014 surveys and is available to download from Defra’s website.
• Accessing and developing the required biophysical datasets and data layers for Marine Protected Areas network planning and wider marine spatial planning purposes (2009) – JNCC collaborated on a literature review led by ABPMer and a consortium of collaborators, resulting in evidence for the geological feature protected within Swallow Sand MCZ.

 

Data analysis reports

• Swallow Sand Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) Monitoring Report (2016) – This report includes recommendations that inform continual improvement and development of sample acquisition, analysis and data interpretation for future survey and reporting. Site and feature specific indicator metrics are not currently defined for this site. Potential indicators, where identified, will be evaluated and considered for inclusion in recommendations for future reporting.
• Swallow Sand MCZ Post-survey Site Report (2016) –  This report provides an interpretation of the survey data collected by the above collaborative surveys with Cefas and JNCC at Swallow Sand MCZ site during May 2012 and March 2014.
• Community analysis of Swallow Sand data (2014) – JNCC contracted Seastar Survey Ltd to complete a community analysis of offshore MCZ grab and video data to establish biotopes. The following biotopes were assigned after multivariate analysis:
  • SS.SMu.CFiMu.SpnMeg A5.361, Seapens and burrowing megafauna in circalittoral fine mud.
  • SS.SSa.OSa.Dari A5.27x: Deep circalittoral muddy sand with Ditrupa arietina, a polychaete worm.
  • SS.SSa.OSa.(MalDef) A5.271: Maldanid polychaetes and Eudorellopsis deformis in deep circalittoral sand or muddy sand
  • SS.SMu.OMu.PjefThyAfil A5.376: Paramphinome jeffreysii, Thyasira spp. and Amphiura filiformis in offshore circalittoral sandy mud.
  • EUNIS level 3 biotopes: SS.SSa.OSa A5.27: Deep circalittoral sand SS.SMu.OMu A5.37: Deep circalittoral mud. SS.SMu.CFiMu A5.36 Circalittoral fine mud & SS.SMx.CMx A5.44 Circalittoral mixed sediment.

Note that this biotope analysis solely relates to data gathered in 2012 and does not consider samples gathered more recently in 2014.

• Mapping seabed sediments of Swallow Sand and South-West Deeps (West) MCZs (2014) – JNCC contracted a report through the BGS in order to carry out geo-statistical analysis of sediment sample data from the MCZ verification survey of Swallow Sand MCZ.
• EUSeaMap 'phase 1 final report' (Cameron & Askew, 2011 and updated in 2012) – A predictive seabed habitat mapping report for European waters, offering supporting information on the presence and extent of Subtidal coarse sediment and Subtidal sand within Swallow Sand MCZ.
• Developing the necessary data layers for Marine Conservation Zone selection – Distribution of rock/hard substrate on UK Continental shelf (2010 ) – The British Geological Survey undertook survey work in the Southern North Sea including the location of Swallow Sand MCZ under the Defra MB0103 contract in order to produce a map of the potential distribution of rock and hard substrate.  The sampling method was also suitable for establishing presence of other features, providing further evidence for the presence and extent of sediment within the site.

 

Additional relevant literature

References for further supporting scientific literature consulted during the identification of this site can be found in the annexes of our advice. Please be aware that although these sources contain information in relation to this MPA, they do not necessarily represent the views of JNCC.

 

Knowledge gaps

As part of the UK Marine Monitoring and Assessment Strategy (UKMMAS), JNCC led the development of a UK Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Strategy, working with partners across the UK monitoring community. The Strategy spans UK territorial and offshore waters, focusing on biodiversity in the wider environment and within Marine Protected Areas.  Its aim is to implement efficient, integrated monitoring of marine biodiversity to provide the evidence needed for all the UK's policy drivers.

The evidence collected during MPA monitoring surveys is used in combination with other available evidence to:

• Enable assessment of condition of the features within sites;
• Contribute to the assessment of the degree to which management measures are effective in achieving the conservation objectives for the protected features;
• Support the identification of priorities for future protection and/or management; and,
• Enable Government to fulfil its national and international assessment and reporting commitments in relation to MPAs and help identify where further action may be required.

More detail on offshore MPA monitoring can be found on the Offshore MPA monitoring webpage. A list of monitoring surveys and relevant reports can be found on the MPA monitoring survey reports webpage.

If you are aware of any additional information not referred to in the Relevant Documentation section or above, please contact us.

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Conservation Advice

Last updated: May 2026

Further information on the approach used to develop this advice is available on our ‘Conserving MPAs’ webpage along with a Glossary of Terms used in JNCC conservation advice to support the use of the conservation advice packages.

You must refer to the conservation advice package for a MCZ if you are:

• intending to carry out any licensed activity in or near a MCZ and need to find out how to operate within the law;
  
  
• an authority providing advice on specific proposals;
  
  
• an authority responsible for putting management measures in place.

You may also find it useful to refer to the conservation advice package for a MCZ if you are intending to carry out an activity in or near a MCZ that does not require a license.

Note JNCC’s conservation advice has undergone development and a restructure in 2025 resulting in some changes it is useful to be aware of. Amongst other changes, most notably, there are now only four documents instead of five, having merged the content previously presented in two separate documents i.e. the Conservation Objectives and Conservation Advice Statements documents into one, which is now called the Conservation Objectives and Management Advice document. 

We will engage with stakeholders to identify any lessons which JNCC can learn from customers who have used the advice, with a view to continuing to ensure it is fit-for-purpose.

The following table provides an overview of the components of the conservation advice and provides hyperlinks to each. Combined, these components form JNCC’s formal conservation advice for this site and should be read in conjunction with each other. Until such times as this advice is updated, it remains JNCC’s formal conservation advice for the site.

Document	Overview
Background Information	Explains where to find the advice package, JNCC’s role in the provision of conservation advice, how the advice has been prepared, when to refer to it and how it can be used.
Conservation Objectives and Management Advice	Sets out the broad ecological aims for the site, JNCC’s/ view of protected feature condition, the conservation benefits that the site can provide if managed effectively, and the conservation measures which JNCC consider are required to support achievement of the conservation objectives stated for the site.
Supplementary Advice on the Conservation Objectives (SACO)	Provides more detailed and site-specific information and is essential reading to support the interpretation of the conservation objectives for the protected features of the site. Use this document to assess the impacts of your planned activity on the important attributes of the site.
Advice on Operations	Provides information in an excel workbook on the activities capable of impacting the site’s protected features and therefore achievement of the site’s conservation objectives. This is a starting point for determining potential management requirements. It does not take into account the intensity, frequency or cumulative impacts from activities taking place. It simply supports an understanding of the possible adverse impacts that an activity can have on a MPA’s features. Guidance is imbedded to support an understanding and use of the information provided in the workbook. Use the Advice on Operations to determine those pressures an activity can cause that could harm the qualifying/protected features of the site.

These resources are available on JNCC's Resource Hub.

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