The park covers about 12,000 square kilometres of shallow water, mudflats, sand islands, and dunes. Because the Atlantic Ocean is cold here (a chilly current sweeps up from the south), the water is packed with small fish, shellfish, and worms — exactly what hungry birds love to eat.
More than two million wading birds visit every year, travelling enormous distances from Europe and Siberia. Dunlins, godwits, and spoonbills all stop here to fill up on food before or after crossing the Sahara. The park is also home to flamingos, pelicans, and dolphins just offshore.
A small group of Imraguen people have lived inside the park for generations. They fish using traditional sailing canoes called 'lanches', and they have a remarkable friendship with wild Atlantic dolphins: the dolphins herd the fish into the nets and eat what spills out, a partnership that has lasted for centuries.
Monk seals — one of the rarest seals in the world — also live along this coast. Scientists count only a few hundred left anywhere on Earth, so seeing one here is very precious.