Irbe Strait
Irbe Strait, also known as Irben Strait, forms the main exit out of the Gulf of Riga to the Baltic Sea, between the Sõrve Peninsula forming the southern end of the island Saaremaa in Estonia and Courland Peninsula in Latvia. It is wide at its narrowest point. A shipping channel has been dredged along its southern shore to allow larger ships to pass.
See also Saunags.
Irbe is also the name of a coastal river on Courland Peninsula. It follows the coastline of the Irbe strait, flowing south-west to north-east, reaching the Baltic sea in the Irbe strait near cape Kolka, in the Slītere national park. Its brown moor water constantly moves the largest sandbanks in its estuary. The river is used as spawning ground by brown trouts.
