The Gozitan coastline is home to a diverse ecosystem.

As the ferry glides out of the dock in Mġarr and starts to pick up speed for Malta, most people are already queuing for a coffee and congratulating themselves on managing to get on board. Those who venture out on deck might look out at the water slipping rapidly under the prow, or at their destination, hazy in the distance. But very few see what makes the Gozo Channel an internationally important stretch of water – its wildlife.

Dolphins are perhaps the easiest creatures to spot, if you’re lucky. Scan the waves and you might see their telltale fins rising smoothly out of the water. There are 19 species of whales and dolphins that could be in the waters around Gozo, but few will be seen in the channel, preferring deeper water. So if you do spot a dolphin, it’s most likely to be bottlenose, common or striped. For whales, you need to get offshore; you can charter a boat from Għajnsielem but need to keep a safe distance and respect these animals.

There are 19 species of whales and dolphins that could be seen around Gozo

Turtles are a distinct possibility too. You’re most likely to see loggerheads, with their distinctive ruddy-brown shells shaped like a heart. Green turtles and leatherbacks are possible too, the latter being the largest of all turtles, with a carapace covered by ridged, oily skin, rather than a hard shell. Green Turtles usually have a brownish shell; the name comes from the greenish fat under their carapace.

Dolphins and turtles are always fun sightings. However the real prize in the channel, in fact the biggest wildlife spectacle off the Maltese islands, is provided by birds. There’s a truly massive migration of ducks, especially ferruginous ducks, garganey and pintail, as well as the mesmerising sight of shearwaters rafting. On a sunset ferry, you could be in for a treat.

If you’ve never watched birds before, especially from a moving ferry, appreciating this spectacle might be tricky at first. So make it easy for yourself by looking at the right time of year. Autumn and spring, particularly February and March, bring literally tens of thousands of ducks, funneled on their passage through the Maltese archipelago between African wintering grounds and their breeding grounds in Europe. You can sometimes see them from the dock if you arrive a little early for the ferry. They rest in the channel waters before continuing their migration.

Sometimes, over 50% of the entire European Union population of ferruginous ducks can pass through the channel in a year, which shows how important this stretch of water is for them. Pack a pair of binoculars, keep practising and gradually the slender and elongate form of the pintail will differentiate itself from the more dumpy body of the garganey and you’ll notice the flashes of white on the wings of the ferruginous duck. The cliffs of Gozo make a good vantage point too.

If you spot something skimming low to the waves, you might be seeing shearwaters. Both Scopoli’s and Yelkouan Shearwater use the waters of the Gozo-Malta Channel, and the Scopolis form huge ‘rafts’ at night, congregations of birds waiting on the water before they return to the cliffs to incubate their egg or feed their chick in its rocky burrow.

Birdlife Malta run trips in the summer to observe these birds, so if you can’t spot them yourself, sign up for one of these unique boat tours. Staff and volunteers on board will give you tips to help you identify the species. You can best see yelkouan shearwaters from February to July and scopoli’s from May to October but the rafts are usually at their peak around July time.

This beautiful stretch of water, wedged between the limestone cliffs of Gozo, the rocky shore of Malta and punctuated by Comino, is so important that it has been designated by BirdLife International as a Marine Important Bird Area. BirdLife Malta staff and volunteers spent years collecting data which was then supplemented by two EU Life projects involving partner organisations and the government.

This designation is important because the government is now expected by the EU to legally protect this stretch of water for its international importance to biodiversity by declaring it as a Marine Special Protection Area. That would be a huge boon for wildlife and eco-tourism to Gozo, which brings in visitors during traditionally quieter times.

It’s also a bonus for locals who like to watch wildlife. Many species are threatened by rampant illegal hunting, coastal development, light and noise pollution and boaters who don’t know how to avoid the rafting birds. Tighter controls will help to protect the wildlife from these issues.

So next time you head out from Gozo, watching the waves, look a little harder. Spotting a dolphin or the gorgeous plumage of a pintail might just make your day.