The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is a 156-mile-long estuary where salt water from the Atlantic Ocean mixes with freshwater from the watershed, creating a brackish habitat. The IRL is a beacon of biodiversity and has immense value to the plants, animals, and people who live on the lagoon; including sea turtle nesting sites and fish spawning and nursery habitat that provide half of the annual fish harvest along the east coast of Florida.
Facts about the IRL
TheIRL's watershed covers 2,284 square miles, and its waters span 353 square miles
The IRL is made up of three main water bodies: the BananaRiver, theIndianRiver, and the MosquitoLagoon
Five inlets along the lagoon connect to the Atlantic Ocean
The IRL is home to 685 species of fish, 370 species of birds, 2,200 animal species, and 2,100 plant species. The ocean beaches in the lagoon region also attract some of the highest numbers of nesting sea turtles in the Western Hemisphere.
Seagrass beds of turtle grass, manatee grass, and shoal grass in the lagoon provide critical habitat & carbon storage
The IRL is 156 miles long and varies in width from 0.5 to 5 miles, with an average depth of 4 feet
