(02/08/2000) -- Hundreds of birds, especially gray and white pelicans and cormorants, cover the water in the turn basin, located east of the Vehicle Assembly Building and next to the crawlerway. The basin is teeming with fish, attracting the crowd for a meal. The turn basin is part of the Indian River Lagoon, composed of Mosquito Lagoon to the north, Banana River and Creek to the south and the Indian River to the west. The lagoon has one of the most diverse bird populations anywhere in America, plus many different species of oceanic and lagoon fish, shellfish and dolphins. Also, nearly one-third of the nation's manatee population lives here or migrates through the Lagoon seasonally. The Lagoon varies in width from ½ mile to 5 miles and averages only 3 feet in depth