The Banana River is a 31-mile brackish lagoon on Florida’s Space Coast between Merritt Island and the barrier islands near Cape Canaveral. Part of the Indian River Lagoon system, it joins the Indian River to the south but, unlike the rest of that system, is not part of the Intracoastal Waterway and reaches the Atlantic through a lock at Port Canaveral. Its shallow waters and varied habitats support marine life as an important nursery and feeding ground. Dolphins, stingrays, and especially manatees are closely associated with it, with the northern section serving as a major manatee habitat. Since the 1964 construction of the Kennedy Space Center Crawlerway, the lagoon has been divided into northern and southern sections.