The geological history of the Cap Ferret deep sea fan in the Bay of Biscay has been reconstructed using multichannel seismic reflection data, piston coring, echo sounding, and seabeam bathymetric data. Cap Ferret canyon is flat bottomed and several adjacent channels feed into it from the north. The canyon is tectonically controlled by a fault bordering its southern flank. Its continuation into deeper water is characterized by the buildup of sedimentary deposits which form a levee bordered on the south by a flat and complex channel. This linguoid morphology is of purely sedimentary construction. The southern area is further complicated by extensions of the Santander and Torrelavega canyons. Seismic stratigraphic interpretation of an extensive grid of multichannel s ismic data (Miniflexichoc) provides the basis for interpretation of the geological history of the fan, a history that begins in the Upper Miocene following faulting of the continental platform.