ISRA FACTSHEETS
ISRA FACTSHEETS
EUROPEAN ATLANTIC
Bay of Angels
Summary
Bay of Angels is located on the coast of west Ireland. The area encompasses two bays and three headlands. It is a shallow estuarine bay fed by the River Lee with depths ranging from 1–10 m in the inner bay to 30 m offshore. The area encompasses highly productive shallow estuarine areas and diverse benthic habitats, influenced by strong riverine inputs and productive coastal waters. The area overlaps with one Key Biodiversity Area and one Ramsar Site. Within this area there are: threatened species (e.g., Common Stingray Dasyatis pastinaca); reproductive areas (Angelshark Squatina squatina); and undefined aggregations (e.g., Undulate Skate Raja undulata).
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Bay of Angels
DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT
Bay of Angels is located on the coast of Ireland. It is situated on the west coast of County Kerry, encompassing Tralee Bay. The area lies on a gently sloping continental shelf with a coastline featuring sheltered estuarine waters, sandy and rocky bays, and prominent headlands. Bay of Angels is a shallow estuarine bay fed by the River Lee, bordered by the Maharees tombolo and islands to the west, and Kerry Head to the east. Depths range from 1–10 m in the inner bay to 30 m offshore. The bay supports diverse benthic habitats, including native oyster beds, Zostera seagrass meadows, biogenic reefs, maerl beds, and mixed sediments (NPWS 2013). The bay hosts subtidal and intertidal seagrass beds, which enhance primary productivity and support rich benthic communities (NPWS 2013).
The area overlaps with the Tralee Bay and Barrow Harbour Key Biodiversity Area (KBA; KBA 2025) and the Tralee Bay Ramsar Site (Wetland of International Importance; Ramsar 2025).
This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic and is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to a depth of 30 m based on the bathymetry of the area.
CRITERION A
VULNERABILITY
Two Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species regularly occur in this area. These are the Critically Endangered Angelshark (Morey et al. 2019) and the Vulnerable Common Stingray (Jabado et al. 2021).
CRITERION C
SUB-CRITERION C1 – REPRODUCTIVE AREAS
Bay of Angels is an important reproductive area for one shark species.
This area has historically been known for the regular and predictable occurrence of Angelshark. There are 532 historic angling records of Angelsharks in the area between 1953–2003, predominantly caught between the months of June–September (Irish Elasmobranch Group unpubl. data 2025). This timing coincides with documented pupping periods in the United Kingdom, which is believed to be between June–July (Norman & Fraser 1948). Three young-of-the-year (YOY) Angelsharks (<40cm TL) were recorded in this area, one in 2018 and two in 2024. These individuals were classified as neonate/YOY as their size is close to their reported size-at-birth (26–30 cm TL; Ebert et al. 2021). A visibly pregnant Angelshark with a swollen abdomen was also recorded in the area in 2023 (Irish Elasmobranch Group unpubl. data. 2025). While these numbers are low, these are the only encounters with YOY or pregnant Angelsharks around the island of Ireland since the 2000s. Populations of Angelshark have been drastically impacted by overfishing and their distributional range extensively contracted (Shepherd et al. 2019). The species is now considered Extinct in the North Sea with several records from Ireland over the last decade suggesting that this is one of their last known northerly refugia and thus highlighting the importance of this area (Bom et al. 2020; Barker et al. 2022).
CRITERION C
SUB-CRITERION C5 – UNDEFINED AGGREGATIONS
Bay of Angels is important for undefined aggregations of three ray species.
Bay of Angels is well known amongst sportfishers as a hotspot for rays, with an annual ‘Tag a Ray’ angling competition in which sportfishers have targeted rays on rod-and-line over two days every May since 2014. Between 2010–2024, captured rays were tagged with unique conventional tags, released, and reported to the Inland Fisheries Ireland’s (IFI) Marine Sportfish Tagging Programme (IFI 2023; IFI unpubl. data 2025). Trips were either from shore or from a boat and ranged from 2–8 hours per day. Reports are limited to successful trips (i.e., when one or more rays were caught and tagged). Catch was reported as the number of individuals of a species per angling trip per day. The angling season spans April–October. All tagging data below originate from this source. Additional data come from a monthly scientific set netting survey which was carried out from April 2018 to March 2019 in and around the Bay of Angels (Tully & Palma Pedraza 2022). The survey undertook 88 tangle net deployments in the Bay of Angels. Although the same general area was surveyed each month, survey stations were not fixed and were adjusted according to the knowledge of skippers involved and to increase the overall spatial coverage and possibility of recording all species that may have been present.
This area is the only known hotspot for Common Stingray around the Irish coast. As part of IFI’s tagging programme, a total of 51 Common Stingrays were recorded around the Irish coast between 2010–2024, with 100% recorded in this area. Common Stingray were recorded on 17 days in total. High catch rates were recorded on four days (two in May 2016 and two in May 2017) with a mean catch rate of six individuals (maximum = 12) per trip. Only one recapture has been reported of a Common Stingray in Ireland since 2010 and it was within the Bay of Angels in June 2016 (IFI 2023). The Marine Institute of Ireland’s scientific netting survey encountered 140 Common Stingrays from 17 of 88 net hauls (19.3%) within the shallow, inshore waters of Bay of Angels. Relatively small numbers of individuals were also reported in August 2018 (n = 32), September 2018 (n = 5), December 2018 (n = 2), and February 2019 (n = 5), with 69% (n = 96) of all Common Stingray encountered in April 2018 (n = 6 per net haul). Furthermore, large groups of >20 Common Stingrays have been recorded on video in July 2022 and encounters of 3–7 rays have been regularly reported by a variety of water users (swimmers, paddleboarders, snorkelers) throughout July and August each year between 2022–2025 (Irish Elasmobranch Group unpubl. data 2025). Common Stingray feeding has been observed via snorkelling in July–September 2022–2023 and on ~10 other occasions since 2020, with areas of >30 Common Stingray aggregating together (Irish Elasmobranch Group unpubl. data 2025). Furthermore, Common Stingray feeding pits can be observed at low tide (Irish Elasmobranch Group unpubl. data 2025). Anecdotal reports suggest that large pregnant female Common Stingray come to the Bay of Angels between March-May to pup (Irish Elasmobranch Group unpubl. data 2025), suggesting that this area may be used for reproductive purposes.
As part of IFI’s tagging programme, a total of 670 Thornback Skates were recorded around the Irish coast between 2010–2024, with 11% (n = 70) recorded in this area. Thornback Skate were recorded on 29 dates in total. One recapture was recorded in June 2011. High catch rates were recorded on seven dates with a mean of 4.4 individuals (maximum = 9) per trip, all between May–September. In the Marine Institute of Ireland’s scientific set net survey, 536 Thornback Skates were encountered in 88 hauls (Tully & Palma Pedraza 2022). Thornback Skates were the most abundant ray species reported from the set net survey. A catch of three or more individuals per haul were reported from May–July 2018, December 2018, and February and March 2019 (mean average haul per month with aggregations = 7.25; maximum average haul per net = 9). There is evidence of anglers catching multiple Thornback Skates back-to-back in a small timeframe, with records of an angler fishing from shore with two rods in the water capturing two Thornback Skates at the same time. These data highlight that this species is aggregating in the area but further information is required to understand the nature and function of these aggregations.
Bay of Angels is the only known hotspot for Undulate Skate around the Irish coast. As part of IFI’s tagging programme, a total of 128 Undulate Skates were tagged around the Irish coast between 2010–2024, with 98% (n = 128) recorded in this area. Undulate Skates were recorded on 32 dates in total. High catch rates were recorded on 13 dates with a mean of 7.2 individuals (maximum = 23) per trip, all between May–July. In the Marine Institute of Ireland’s scientific set net survey, 47 Undulate Skates were encountered in 13 of 88 net hauls (Tully & Palma Pedraza 2022). No Undulate Skate were reported from hauls outside the area. There is evidence of anglers catching multiple Undulate Skates back-to-back in a short timeframe within the area, suggesting that they are likely aggregating here. There is also some evidence that Undulate Skate may be reproducing in the area. A pair of mating Undulate Skates were encountered by an angler in April 2024, a YOY Undulate Skate was recorded in March 2024, and one angler fishing from shore in the area captured a small animal. This suggests that this area may be used for reproductive purposes. However, information is needed to understand the nature and function of these aggregations.
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