Harbours

'an area of water next to the coast, often protected from the sea by a thick wall, where ships and boats can shelter'.

Portsmouth Harbour is the most westerly of the three sheltered inlets at the east of the Solent; the others being Langstone and Chichester Harbours. Its shores are the most developed of the three, and the degree of boating and shipping activity is the greatest. The island of Portsea is surrounded on each side by two large natural harbours, these areas are internationally important for birds which feed on the inter tidal muds.