The Site is a very shallow arm of a fjord, featuring extensive beds of submerged vegetation and large mudflats which are exposed at low tide. The bay is surrounded by salt marshes, wet grassland and agricultural land. The Site’s wealth of mussels, snails and invertebrates supports a wide range of birds: it is one of the most important wetlands in the region for staging migratory waterbirds, particularly ducks and waders, and it is also important as a breeding, moulting, feeding and overwintering site. It supports several nationally and globally threatened species such as the horned grebe Podiceps auritus and the velvet scoter Melanitta fusca. The salt marshes also offer habitat to nationally threatened plants, and the Site is important for the critically endangered European eel Anguilla anguilla. Commercial fishing is practised. The Site is considered as one of the very best birdwatching sites in the county and facilities include an observation tower.