The diverse vegetation consists of hydrophilic communities, islands of floodplain forest, and reed thickets and includes endemic, relic and nationally rare species. Internationally important numbers of Egretta alba breed, and large numbers of numerous species of waterbirds molt at the site. An important source of drinking and irrigation water, the site provides the largest water transport artery between the Ukraine and Black Sea countries. Human activities include hunting, aquaculture, fishing, and recreation. The site, part of a large coastal lagoon, is a shallow saltwater bay near the Azov Sea and includes numerous spits, islets, saline lowlands, and peninsulas.
Vegetation consists of halophytic grasses fringed by extensive areas of steppe.
The area serves as an important nesting, wintering, molting and staging area for internationally important numbers of various species of waterbirds and waders. A number of these species are rare, vulnerable or endangered. Human activities include fishing, recreation, and hunting. Ramsar site no. An embayment of the Black Sea, the site includes several islands and surrounding waters.