Mangroves
Deep channels lead inland from the harbour entrance. The edges are laced with mangroves and the shallows green with meadows of seagrass. These are nurseries for small fish and rich habitats for shellfish and other crustaceans.
Parengarenga is like a time machine, a vision of what many New Zealand harbours once looked like. Before Auckland’s suburban development flooded the Waitematā and Manukau Harbours with sediment, they too were carpeted in verdant seagrasses.