Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...

tidal plain Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

Hudsonian godwit The Hudsonian godwit (''Limosa haemastica'') is a large shorebird in the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae. The genus name ''Limosa'' is from Latin and means "muddy", from ''limus'', "mud". The specific ''haemastica'' is from Ancient Greek and means ...

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

.

Geography

Bahía Lomas is a bay on the north of the island of Tierra del Fuego near the southern tip of South America. The bay is located in Chile, close to the border with Argentina at 52.55°S and 69.00°W, and opens onto the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...

. The bay has about of beach, a number of salt marshes and the largest area of tidal flats in Chile. Up to of flats are exposed by the receding tide, measuring from the high tide mark to low water. Above the high tide mark are muddy plains criss-crossed by channels, and these are backed by sandy areas. This part of Tierra del Fuego experiences sudden changes in the weather and strong winds throughout the year; in the summer (December to March), the temperature averages between while in the winter (June to August) the mean temperature can drop below . Two oil extraction platforms are situated on the flats.

Ramsar site

The bay was designated as a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Ramsar Convention in 2004, being an area of around of international importance to wetland birds. It has also been identified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

. It is visited from October to March each year by large numbers of migratory shorebirds which overwinter here, including 23% of the world population of the

Hudsonian godwit The Hudsonian godwit (''Limosa haemastica'') is a large shorebird in the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae. The genus name ''Limosa'' is from Latin and means "muddy", from ''limus'', "mud". The specific ''haemastica'' is from Ancient Greek and means ...

(''Limosa haemastica'') and over 88% of the American population of red knot (''Calidris canutus''). Other migratory and domestic species include the

white-rumped sandpiper The white-rumped sandpiper (''Calidris fuscicollis'') is a small shorebird that breeds in the northern tundra of Canada and Alaska. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds; these are known collectively as " ...

(''Calidris fuscicollis''), the

Magellanic plover The Magellanic plover (''Pluvianellus socialis'') is a rare wader found only in southernmost South America. Taxonomy It was long placed in with the other plovers in the family Charadriidae; however, behavioural evidence suggested they were disti ...

(''Pluvianellus socialis'') and the Chilean flamingo (''Phoenicopterus chilensis''), as well as Baird's sandpiper (''Calidris bairdii''), the sanderling (''Calidris alba''), the

rufous-chested plover The rufous-chested plover (''Charadrius modestus'') or rufous-chested dotterel, is a species of bird in subfamily Charadriinae of family Charadriidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife Internat ...

(''Charadrius modestus''), the

two-banded plover The two-banded plover (''Charadrius falklandicus'') is a species of bird in subfamily Charadriinae of family Charadriidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of ...

(''Charadrius falklandicus''), the whimbrel (''Numenius phaeopus''), the Magellanic oystercatcher (''Haematopus leucopodus''), the American oystercatcher (''Haematopus palliatus'') and the kelp gull (''Larus dominicanus'').

Flora and fauna

Precipitation is very low in this area and the vegetation on the Patagonian steppe land is largely dominated by the grasses '' Festuca'' spp., while the saltmarshes are covered by succulent plants such as the glasswort ''

Salicornia ambigua ''Salicornia'' is a genus of succulent, halophytic A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, ...

'' and the seablite '' Suaeda argentinensis''. The mud flats provide habitat for bivalve molluscs and various

polychaete worms Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are m ...

, as well as many other invertebrates, and these provide food for the shore birds.

Cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...

ns visit the bay and sometimes get stranded on the mudflats, with 21 different species having been recorded.

References

External links

IBA factsheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lomas Strait of Magellan Ramsar sites in Chile Important Bird Areas of Chile Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego Bays of Chile Bodies of water of Magallanes Region