Gazi Bay mangrove creek

Abstract

Gazi Bay (4.92°S, 39.50°E; Figure 1) is a shallow tropical coastal water system located on the southern coast of Kenya, approximately 50 km south of Mombasa. The total surface area of the bay including that covered by the mangrove forest is 15 km2. The mangrove forest covers a surface area of about 7 km2 (Kitheka 1996, 1997). Seagrass meadows and mangrove forest cover a surface area of about 12 km2. The bay is open to the Indian Ocean through a relatively wide (3,500 m) entrance, and is mostly shallow with mean depth at the entrance about 5 m. There are several narrow shallow cuts through the reef, which is mostly submerged except during spring tide. The bay is drained by two main rivers, the Kidogoweni River on the north-west part of the bay and the Mkurumuji River on the south-west side of the bay.