Wenzhou Bay

Wenzhou Bay (Chinese: 温州湾) is a roadstead located off the coast of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. The name originally referred specifically to the estuarine bay at the mouth of the Ou River. It later gradually evolved into a broader term denoting the open sea area enclosed by the Dongtou Islands to the north, the Wenzhou coastal plain to the west, bordering the Yueqing Bay.

Wenzhou Bay is an important stopover and wintering ground for migratory birds along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, with more than one hundred thousand birds passing through or overwintering there each year. Within the bay, the combined influence of tidal currents, river runoff, and the segmentation effect of islands has created multiple flow channels and extensive intertidal shoals. Notable features include the Wenzhou Shoal, which formed to the southeast of Lingkun Island and connects underwater with the Yangshe sand spit of Niyu Island, both of which affect navigation into and out of the Port of Wenzhou. Large-scale land reclamation in the 2000s gradually converted parts of the bay into land, significantly altering the local tidal regime and raising widespread concern over the destruction of habitats for migratory birds, especially the black-faced spoonbill.