Nature Park

The National Park archipelagos, located at the entrance of the Rías Baixas, act as a natural barrier to the ocean and characterise the estuarine nature of these estuaries. Dune systems, cliffs and gorse & heather bushes make up the terrestrial environment. Brown algae forests communities (Saccorhiza polyschides and Laminaria spp.) are abundant in rocky seabed environments that provide shelter to a wide variety of living organisms.

Sea currents deposit sand in the most sheltered areas and together with the abundant Maerl Beds (calcareous algal remains) form a mobile substrate medium to which living organisms like bivalves adapt by burying themselves to avoid being swept away by currents.

Yellow-footed seagulls and shags breed in the Park, the latter forming one of the largest colonies in southern Europe. Other terrestrial animals on the islands are distanced from coastal congeners, and can be easily differentiated. Good examples of this are the presence of the ocellated lizard subspecies in Salvora, or the viviparous behaviour of the salamanders of the islands.