(Phoenicopterus roseus), ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula), grey plover (Pluvialis squatarola), red knot (Calidris canutus), common redshank (Tringa totanus) and bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica). Along with the regions in north such as the Cintra Bay and Dakhla Peninsula, the area is one of the most important wintering grounds for Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia leucorodia). Breeding birds include white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), reed cormorant (Phalacrocorax africanus), gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica), Caspian tern (Hydroprogne caspia), royal tern (Sterna maxima) and common tern (Sterna hirundo), together with several species or subspecies with an African distribution, such as grey heron (Ardea cinerea monicae) and Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia balsaci) and western reef heron (Egretta gularis). For marine mammals, endangered species can be seen here all-year round; for example, Mediterranean monk seals, Atlantic humpback dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. Other species can be seen here are orca, the killer whales, pilot whales, Risso's dolphins, dolphins (common, rough-toothed). Fin whales and harbor porpoises are also known to visit the area. Possibly, highly coastal whale species such as North Atlantic right whales, now-extinct Atlantic gray whales were used to be seen here as well. Other baleen whales possibly occur here include; humpbacks, seis, blues, Brydes's, and minkes, as they have been seen in either coastal or offshore waters. Banc d'Arguin is rich in fish and the rare false shark ray is only known from this region. Flora Battering surf and shifting sand banks characterize the entire length of the shoreline. The Ras Nouadhibou (formerly Cap Blanc) peninsula, which forms Dakhlet Nouadhibou (formerly Lévrier Bay) to the east, is fifty kilometers long and up to thirteen kilometers wide. The peninsula is administratively divided between Morocco (see Glossary) and Mauritania, with the Mauritanian port and railhead of Nouadhibou located on the eastern shore (see fig. 11). Dakhlet Nouadhibou, one of the largest natural harbors on the west coast of Africa, is forty-three kilometers long and thirty-two kilometers wide at its broadest point. Fifty kilometers southeast of Ras Nouadhibou is Arguin. In 1455 the first Portuguese installation south of Cape Bojador (in the present-day South Morocco) was established at Arguin. Farther south is the coastline's only significant promontory, seven-meter-high Cape Timiris. From this cape to the marshy area around the mouth of the Senegal River, the coast is regular and marked only by an occasional high dune. On coastal dunes vegetation is rare. At the foot of ridges, however, large tamarisk bushes,