Lemon Bay is a 13-mile-long, approximately three-quarters-of-a-mile-wide estuarine system in southwest Florida, running from South Venice in Sarasota County down to Charlotte County. This 8,000-acre body of water is part of the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves and is designated as an Outstanding Florida Waterbody. It is bordered to the west by Little Gasparilla Island and Manasota Key, which separate it from the Gulf of Mexico, with the community of Englewood on its eastern shore. A portion of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) runs along its entire length. The bay is a shallow estuary characterized by critical seagrass beds, oyster habitats, and extensive mangrove shorelines and islands. The historical dredging for the ICW created spoil islands that now support diverse marine habitats. Water depth is generally limited outside of marked channels, and the bay is predominantly a slow-speed zone outside of the ICW.