Due to the variety of habitats around the bay, the variety of wild animals and birds is spectacular. Any type of bird, animal, insect or fish that exists in Ireland can be found in, on or around the bay.

Bird life is varied. Shore-side birds such as Herons, oyster-catchers and curlews crowd the shoreline when they are not feeding on nearby rivers or lakes. Swans and ducks alternate between feeding on sea-weeds and browsing ponds or lakes. Wood pigeons, magpies and jays fly among woodlands along the shore. Hooded crows feed on mussels when they are not scavenging on the hills. Gannets from the Skellig rocks fly up the bay searching for mackerel and Cormorants stand with their wings outstretched to dry them in the breeze. Visitors such as the Arctic Tern fly 11,000 miles to feed and rear their young on small sandy beaches on the Islands of the bay. The great Northern Diver returns to the arctic in may for the summer feeding and nesting returning in October to over winter.

Animal life is also varied. Rabbits, Hares and Badgers are seen on the pastures along the bayside. Foxes come down the shore on the big tides for a change of diet searching among the seaweed for fish and shellfish. In late summer the Sika deer introduced from China by the landlords for hunting can be heard calling to each other around the bay and are sometimes seen swimming across the bay where it is up to a half a mile in width! Mink which have escaped from mink farms are now breeding in the wild and are often seen along the shore searching for prey.

As the bay is quite narrow near Kenmare, butterflies and bees are often seen from the boat crossing the water. The remaining native forests in the area contain insects that are only found in these ancient woodlands and occur nowhere else. These rare species are a left over from the last ice age.

The waters of the bay are bountiful. The records of the monks who had their monastery on Dinish Island between the 8th and 10th centuries said that the waters of the bay were alive with fish and that is the reason they settled there. They had a vow never to eat meat so always placed their monasteries close to a good supply of fish. Several of the best Salmon fishing rivers in Ireland flow into the bay. The bay was one of the richest sources of sea Urchins in the world until they were over-fished during the 1960’s. The bay is a major Mussel farming area at present and was in the past a major producer of fine quality native European Oysters. Other species of shellfish such as scallops, shrimp, prawns, clams and periwinkles are still fished commercially.