 The lagoon is 3.7 km in length and 1 km wide and is limited by sandy desert on its eastern side.Former visitors to the area assumed that the water in the lagoon was fresh, but a recent survey found out that the lagoon is filled with poor quality brackish water that seeps under the dunes and allows the growth of large reed beds at the water's edge.The area was surveyed in the 1880s by the Royal Navy but it was considered very inferior to Walvis Bay and no development took place.