Tag:subsea=bank

An Ocean Bank is an area of seabed that is relatively shallow compared to surrounding ocean, but doesn't necessarily get close enough to the surface to count as reef or shoal in its own right. They usually aren’t shallow enough to count as hazards to navigation themselves, but may be frequently avoided anyway if they are prone to shifting shoals or are home to multiple actual reefs.

In some cases these are known for attracting fish, which has sometimes been recorded as natural=fishing_bank.

How to map

If the extents are roughly know these are probably best mapped as areas with the higher side to the left of the way following the general convention for features representing height differences. A multipolygon is probably advisable for larger examples. If only a general location is known a node (or potentially way) may be used.

Mapping caveats

This tag should not be used for:

• Features that protrude above the water (although they may surround these features).
• Features that are generally shallow enough to cause a risk to surface vessels, which would generally be considered natural=reef or natural=shoal. Larger banks may support reefs or shoal, but will not normally be that shallow themselves.

See also

• natural=shoal for shoals that lie above the surface of the water at low tide
• natural=reef for shallow areas that might pose a danger to surface vessels
• subsea=*
• seamark:sea_area:category=* for specialist tagging of these (seamark:sea_area:category=bank) and other ocean areas.