Intertidal Ecology and Offshore Reefs
Hawke’s Bay’s intertidal areas vary from coarse gravel beaches to soft white sand to hard packed mud and rock intertidal platforms. Little research has been carried out in the past on the marine flora and fauna that live within these intertidal zones. Six siltstone rock platforms, for example, are located along the Central Hawke's Bay coast between Blackhead Point and Kairakau. All of these platforms support biologically diverse intertidal assemblages and are regionally significant wildlife habitats. Between 85-100 species of intertidal plants, macroinvertebrates and fish have been recorded from each platform, making these important feeding habitats for at least 15 species of native bird, e.g. white-faced heron, variable oystercatcher, eastern bar-tailed godwit and black shag.
Even less is known about the animals and plants living on the subtidal reefs and in and on the sediments of the interconnecting flat muddy seabed. If the Regional Council is to allocate areas as Aquaculture Management Areas (AMAs), more information is required on the ecology of our open coastal waters and the potential impacts of marine farms on that ecology.
We are therefore currently designing some baseline coastal monitoring for the 2004-2005 year, including intertidal areas, shellfish gathering areas and subtidal habitats.