The Bassin de Thau

Mezes harbour on the northern shore of the Bassin de Thau

The Bassin de Thau, often also referred to as the Etang de Thau, is a large salt lagoon joined to the Mediterranean by a narrow channel at Sete.

At twenty-one kilometres long and eight kilometres wide, it is  the largest of several such lagoons which stretch from the Rhone delta to the Pyrenees.

The Bassin de Thau is not merely larger but also deeper than the other lagoons. Its mean average depth is 4.5 metres rising to ten metres in the main navigation channels.

The Canal du Midi joins the Etang du Thau at Sete. Image published under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 license

It was once possible to continuously sail through all the southern lagoons without venturing into the Mediterranean since they formed a single inland waterway: "the so-called petite mer interieure et tranquille".

The Bassin de Thau remains an important inland waterway since the Canal du Midi which terminates there connects Bordeaux and Toulouse to the Mediterranean.

The River Rhone is also connected by canal to the Bassin de Thau.

The sandbank which divides the Etang de Thau (right) from the Mediterranean (left). Image published under the GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.2 or later

The southern shore of the Bassin de Thau consists of a narrow sandbank which stretches from Sete to the Cap d'Agde. Three harbors are located on the northern shore at Marseillan, Mezes and Bouzigues. The eastern shore is largely industrialised.

The Bassin de Thau possesses large stocks of bream and shellfish, particularly oysters and mussels.  The plankton required by the oysters thrives in the mixture of salt and fresh water provided by the lagoon. The oysters are farmed in sub-aquatic enclosures.

The Bassin de Thau accounts for approximately eight per cent of France's entire oyster production: the so-called huitres de Bouzigues.

The Bassin de Thau, which hosts numerous sailing schools, is also notable for its wildlife, particularly its herons and pink flamingos.

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