The latest from the saline lagoon..
Our new saline lagoon was breached for the first time on 7/3/2012, with the River Wear flooding in at high tide.
Please see below for pics and footage of this amazing event - to say the staff and vols that were gathered to watch the spectacle were excited is an understatement!
The finishing touches to the lagoon are now being made, with the creation of an artificial sluice to allow wardens to control the water level. This means we can carefully manage the habitat for a range of species, including birds nesting on the pea gravel-topped islands.
The lagoon will now flood one or two times per month and will partially drain inbetween high tides. This brackish habitat will attract a unique range of flora and fauna, many of which will be completely new species for our site.
The £100k project has been kindly funded by SITA Trust.
Jools Granville of SITA Trust said: "WWT Washington is a very important site for both its biodiversity benefits and its engagement with people."
SITA Trust was delighted to provide this, much needed, funding to enable WWT to bring together people and nature for the benefit of both.
"In the fifteen years we have been offering funding in this region we have been able to work with WWT on a number of projects and we are always delighted with the results - we hope that the visitors, both feathered and human, are too!"
To see the video footage, please like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/wwtwashington, follow us on Twitter @WWTWashington or check it out on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNml2ZXjHEo
