In NW England most if not all saline lagoons are man-made
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Saline Lagoons
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Saline lagoons are bodies of saline water, natural or artificial, partially separated from the adjacent sea. They retain a proportion of their seawater at low tide and may be either brackish, full saline or hyper-saline.
Seawater exchange in lagoons takes place through natural or man-modified channels or by percolation through or overtopping of the barrier between the lagoon and the sea. The salinity of the system is determined by the level of fresh water input from ground or surface waters.
In NW England most, if not all, saline lagoons are man-made and have a variety of origins, including docks, mine workings and marine recreational lakes.
Current Status
Lagoons are found around much of the UK coast but the number of identified sites, less than 400 nationally, is small given the length of coastline involved. Nearly half of these lagoons are found in England. In NW England there are lagoons scattered along most of the coastline, other than the Solway Firth. Lagoons on the west Cumbrian coast and around Morecambe Bay are of national and international importance.
For further information please see the document for download on this page.
