Strangford Lough (from Old Norse Strangr Fjörðr, meaning "strong sea-inlet") is a large sea loch or inlet in County Down, in the east of Northern Ireland. It is the largest inlet in Ireland and the British Isles, covering . The lough is almost fully enclosed by the Ards Peninsula and is linked to the Irish Sea by a long narrow channel at its southeastern edge. The main body of the lough has at least seventy islands along with many islets (pladdies), bays, coves, headlands and mudflats. Historically it was called 'Lough Coan' (Irish Loch Cuan, "sea-inlet of bays/havens"), while 'Strangford' referred to the narrow sea channel. It is part of the 'Strangford and Lecale' Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Strangford Lough was designated as Northern Ireland's first Marine Conservation Zone in 2013, and has been designated a Special Area of Conservation for its important wildlife. Strangford Lough is a popular tourist destination noted for its fishing and scenery. Towns and villages around the lough include Killyleagh, Comber, Newtownards, Portaferry and Strangford. The latter two straddle either shore of the narrow Strangford channel, and are connected by a car ferry. Name The name Strangford comes . The Vikings were active in the area during the Middle Ages. Originally, this name referred only to the narrow channel linking the lough to the sea (between the villages of Strangford and Portaferry). Up until about the 18th century, the main body of the lough was better known by the (older) Irish name Loch Cuan, meaning "loch of the bays/havens". This name was anglicized as Lough Coan, Lough Cone, Lough Coyn, Lough Coin, or similar. The narrow channel may have been known in Latin as the fretum Brene. In Ulster-Scots the lough's name is spelt Strangfurd or Strangfirt Loch. Ptolemy's Geography (2nd century AD) described a point called Ουινδεριος (Winderios, "pleasant river") which may have referred to Strangford Lough. Geology The loch was formed at the end of the last ice age and is generally under deep, but can reach in parts, generally the centre channel. Flora Flowering plants Common cord-grass (Spartina anglica) C.E. Hubbard was introduced in the mid-1940s is now abundant. Algae Maerl is a calcareous deposit, in the main, of two species, of calcareous algae Phymatolithon calcareum and Lithothamnion glaciale which form free-living beds of unattached, branched corallines, living or dead, in Strangford Lough. The rocky and boulder shores toward the south