River Esk, North Yorkshire

Aerial view of Whitby with the Esk Estuary

The Esk is a river in the North York Moors in North Yorkshire in England. The 45 km long river drains an area of 362 km ². It flows from a number of sources on Westerdale Moor through the Esk Valley until it opens directly into the North Sea at the port of Whitby. It is thus the only major river in Yorkshire, which flows directly into the North Sea.

The river flows through Jurassic sandstones and Lias of the North York Moors. The water quality is due to its remoteness at the top. However, some tributaries have temporarily due to strongly acidic inflows from the moors on biologically difficult conditions. About 50 percent of the catchment area consist of moor and heath land which is mainly used for grouse shooting and is extensively grazed by sheep. The other half consists mostly of agricultural acreage, almost exclusively grazing livestock.

The Esk is the only river of Yorkshire, home to salmon and sea trout. In addition occur on endangered species Otter, Vole, kingfishers, dippers and freshwater pearl mussel. Although water pollution has declined again since the 1970s, the decline of fish stocks could not be stopped and is ongoing. Most probable cause of this is the continued shrinking living and spawning area in the river basin. Fishing in the river can be BC to prove he is best known for sea trout and salmon, but also trout and grayling are caught today since 1200.

Due to its location in the National Park of the Esk is a popular visiting destination: In the 1990s, some four million tourists came every year in the Esk Valley to enjoy all about the scenery. The long-distance Esk Valley Walk runs ago in parts beside the river.