Donut Island: a failed project that nature saved and made a paradise for birds (7 photos + 1 video)

In The Wash on the east coast of England, there's a man-made island. It's perfectly round with a depression in the center, earning it the apt nickname "The Doughnut."





Officially called "Outer Trial Bank," it's one of two islands built in the 1970s.



British engineers planned to dam part of the bay and turn it into a gigantic freshwater reservoir. Rivers carried water into the bay, but it was lost to the sea. The £3 million project (about £40-50 million today) was supposed to solve the water supply problem for decades to come.





But the plan didn't work out. The islands and dams were built from local sand and soil, which couldn't hold the saltwater. Ocean water seeped in and mixed with freshwater. Instead of clean water, the reservoirs ended up with the same salty solution. The project was deemed a failure and abandoned.



It would seem that this was the end of the story. But for nature, it was a beginning. The abandoned concrete embankments became an ideal refuge for birds. Today, the donut-shaped island is a protected area, home to approximately three thousand pairs of seabirds, including rare terns.



People spent millions fighting the sea and lost. But the birds simply flew in and won.