Coastal Birds, Fish, Plants, Dunes
Every year we are privileged to see the dolpins playing close to the shore or in the bay with their young. Periodically whales cruise by with their tails or water spouts visible to the naked eye. The beach is visited by sea lions and seals who come up onto the shore to shelter or sunbathe on the beach. The marine reserve provides a wonderful feeding ground for the marine life on the coast.
The coastal birds are numerous and each spring we note the exciting arrival of the migratory birds to our beach. The Bar Tailed Godwits returned from Alaska and were spotted feeding on the reef on September. The white faced terns arrived the weekend before from the north. We have herons, oyster-catchers, pied stilts, sea-gulls, shags, sky larks, gannets and many other varieties visit the Ouepoto Wetlands, the stream, the reefs and coastal sand dunes each year.
Shoal Bay has became a significant nesting area for the endangered New Zealand Dotterill with several chicks hatching on the sand dune area in front of the Ouepoto Wetland. DOC have placed signs at the northern end of the beach to keep 4x4 bikes and cars off the dunes so as not to destroy this very important nesting area.
