Orbetello is the village built on the strip of land that divides the lagoon of the same name in two, located between the Argentario Promontory and mainland Tuscany. In the image (fbxx/Getty), sunrise over the Laguna di Orbetello in an aerial photograph.
A lagoon is a basin of salt water, separated from the open sea by strips of land or long, narrow sandy islands. It is made up of rivers whose waters cannot flow directly into the sea.
Often what prevents this is a barrier, opposed by the strip of land or by the islands, through which the waters penetrate, especially during the tide or aestus, a term for which the lagoon is also defined as estuary.
Of notable importance, also to define the presence of a lagoon in a place, is the one on the Italian Veneto coast, where the lido is the strip of land and the ports are the openings to the sea.
Where similar conditions form and salt water mixes with fresh water, you have a lagoon: examples are those on the Baltic or eastern coasts of Carolina, Texas and Mexico on the American continent.
The Laguna di Orbetello is partly included in the nature reserve of the same name and constitutes one of the most important lagoon ecosystems in Italy and includes rather large areas of Mediterranean, dune and brackish, annual and perennial vegetation.
Sea bass, sea bream, mullet and eels are often seen jumping out of its waters: a circumstance which, together with the microclimate, gives it a precious evolutionary value as a resting, nesting and wintering place for numerous species of migratory birds.
Since 1971, the lagoon area has also become a WWF oasis thanks to the extraordinary discovery of a nesting colony of the aquatic bird Himantopus himantopus, the so-called Cavaliere d’Italia, considered extinct since the beginning of the twentieth century.
After arriving in Orbetello coming from Porto Ercole, the fitwalking path around the lagoon continues, now surrounding its western basin, to reach the other reference center on the Argentario coast, the village of Porto Santo Stefano.