Whilst the Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey is visited by around 1.5 million tourists each year (in 2019), the bay also attracts thousands of nesting, migratory and wintering sea birds. During the breeding season, cormorants, gulls, ducks, and waders nest on the bay’s rocky islets, beaches, and grasslands. Every year in mid-January, between 100,000 and 150,000 birds are counted there. In addition, the Tombelaine rock has been classified, along with the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, as a SPA (special protection area) since 1990.