Harrington Sound

Harrington Sound is almost entirely surrounded by land and connects to the sea through a narrow tidal channel at the Flatts Inlet. Tidal currents which reach high velocities in the channel are sufficient to maintain near-normal oceanic temperature and salinity. A prominent thermocline of about 17 m is important in the delineation of the environments of the deposition. The topography allows the basin to be divided into the irregular platform to the west, two extensive flat floor basins between 20 and 25 m and a hummocky median ridge between the basins.

Four ecological zones within Harrington Sound have been distinguished: the rocky zone, the shallow sandy zone, the Oculina zone, and the sub thermocline zone.