The mangroves in Menai Bay that are closest to settlements like Unguja Ukuu, Pete, and Uzi are losing the most of their natural state. Therefore, the western portion of Menai has more mangrove deterioration than the eastern part. Though there are currently legal and regulatory structures in place to slow the deterioration of mangroves, the rate of degradation in Zanzibar is concerning. B. gymnorrhiza, R. mucronata, and C. tagal are the most impacted mangrove species.[3]
Dolphins
There are eight species of delphinids in the vicinity of Zanzibar; however, the only two that live year-round in the Menai Bay Conservation Area (MBCA), which is situated off the southwest coast of Unguja Island, are the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) and the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin (Sousa plumbea). The MBCA's two dolphin species are both under peril from boat-based tourism and bycatch from fisheries. This fragility is highlighted by the low estimated population sizes of both species, 35 S. plumbea and 136 T. aduncus. However, there isn't any management in place for these species at the moment in terms of fishing or tourism. There has never been any prior study done in this field that looked into differences in distribution, occurrence, or behaviour. Furthermore, our knowledge of the effects and limitations that anthropogenic and environmental factors have on the distribution of the species is limited.[4]
^Mohamed, Mohamed Khalfan, Elhadi Adam, and Colbert M. Jackson. "The spatial and temporal distribution of mangrove forest cover from 1973 to 2020 in Chwaka Bay and Menai Bay, Zanzibar." Applied Sciences 13.13 (2023): 7962.
^Temple, Andrew J., et al. "Spatial and temporal variations in the occurrence and foraging activity of coastal dolphins in Menai Bay, Zanzibar, Tanzania." PloS one 11.3 (2016): e0148995.
