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THIS is a picture of division, but also connection. Hundreds of radar images taken by the European Space Agency鈥檚 twin Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites from 2016 to 2018 have been combined to give this view of the English Channel.
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Water deflects the radar pulses, rendering the sea wine-dark. Metallic objects, by contrast, ping the pulses back strongly. Most obviously, that reveals ships as bright dots (though wind farms, a recent addition to the seascape off the UK, are evident, too).
Two lines of dots proceed ant-like in their designated lanes. The lower consists of ships bound for ports such as Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Antwerp in Belgium, Hamburg in Germany and Felixstowe in the UK; the upper of ships travelling west to the Atlantic. This was the first such maritime 鈥渢raffic separation scheme鈥�, introduced to reduce the potential for accidents in 1967.
Bright dots of vessels queueing to enter the ports of Southampton in the UK and Le Havre in France are also visible to the left of the image, as is the pinch point of the Dover Strait between Britain and France, top right. Here the Channel narrows to 33 kilometres, and the container traffic conflicts with one of the world鈥檚 busiest international ferry routes: Dover to Calais.
The Channel has long been the UK鈥檚 bulwark, reinforcing a self-image of otherness, independence and indomitability most recently reflected in the country鈥檚 2016 vote to leave the European Union. How leaving will change the established patterns of international trade visible in this picture is anyone鈥檚 guess. But what is clear is that in today鈥檚 world no country is truly an island.
