Careel Bay

Introduction

Careel Bay, like the other wetland areas remaining in Sydney, is an environmentally sensitive and important area which needs to be protected and managed. It contains a combination of natural features rare around Sydney which provide habitats for some important marine life and bird species.

Pittwater Council, the Department of Land and Water Conservation and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, in association with interested members of the community, are endeavouring to manage the area to maintain its recreational, scientific and educational values.

Why is Careel Bay important?

Careel Bay contains the largest stand of mangroves, the last remnant of saltmarsh, and the most extensive sea grass beds in Pittwater. These act as a silt-stabiliser and fish nursery and are essential to the ecology of Pittwater and nearby coastal water. They are a habitat for some unusual resident and visiting bird species.

The Bay is a stop-off site on the East-Asian/Australasian Flyway for migratory wading birds which arrive in spring from their breeding grounds in Mongolia and Siberia.

The Australian people and the Federal Government are committed to a number of international agreements for the protection of these birds and their habitats.

Why do migrating birds come to Careel Bay?

Careel Bay has a combination of seagrass beds and mudflats rich in marine life on which the birds feed, a sandspit where they can roost at high tide and a stand of mangroves which is used as a roosting area.

The birds spend the summer resting, moulting and feeding to build up fat reserves necessary for the long trip to the northern hemisphere where they breed. Some immature birds may remain over winter with us in their first year.

What are the main threats to these birds?

All along their flyway, these birds and their habitats are under increasing threat from agriculture, industry, marinas and other human activity, in every country through which they pass.

At Careel Bay, the birds are disturbed while feeding and roosting by people, uncontrolled dogs and night prowling cats, making an otherwise suitable habitat untenable. In 1973, the mangroves and tidal flats were saved from marina development by strong local protest and environmental surveys. But each year as human activity increases, the species and numbers of birds decrease.

How we can help them survive

• Keep dogs leashed while walking on the shore (in accordance with the NSW Dog Act).
• Avoid walking on seagrass beds at low tide as they are easily damaged.
• Swim dogs at high tide beside the unleashed dog exercise area instead of going out on the sand and seagrass flats where the birds feed. Other unleashed dog exercise areas with access to water are at Dearin Reserve, Newport and Bayview Park, Bayview.
• Walk along the grass rather than the sandspit at high tide when the birds are roosting.
• Stay clear of the mangroves and don't allow dogs to go into the mangroves.
• Keep cats indoors between dusk and dawn.
• Be aware of the effects of pesticides on wildlife.
• Observe NSW Fisheries regulations for bait collection in seagrass areas: no yabby pumps or shovels.
• Use official small boat launching ramp at Currawong Reserve.
• Use dinghy storage area only for storage of small boats, kayaks etc.
• Pick up after your dog when it defecates, whether on sand, reserve or dog exercise area (NSW Dog Act 1993).
• Help keep Careel Bay litter free.