Lake Baikal
by Joe Dorish on 02/03/09 at 3:44 am
Lake Baikal is “The Blue Eye of Siberia” and contains more water than all of the Great Lakes combined!
Lake Baikal is located in South-East Siberia, Russia between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast.
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The depth of Lake Baikal is astounding as it is over 1 mile deep (5,370 ft) and contains roughly 20% of all the Earth’s liquid freshwater reserves and is the deepest lake on the planet by over 1,000 feet. Lake Baikal is so deep it contains more water than all of the Great Lakes combined. Though it is deep and contains massive amounts of water Lake Baikal is only the 8th largest lake in the world by square miles (12,162).
Lake Baikal is often referred to as “The Blue Eye of Siberia”.
Being in Siberia the water is mainly cold and water temperatures range from the high 30s to the low 60s (Fahrenheit) and the entire lake freezes over for more than five months out of the year.
Image via Wikipedia
Olkhon Island in Lake Baikal is the fourth-largest lake-bound island in the world and some legends say the birthplace of Genghis Khan.
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Modern exploration of Lake Baikal has taken place since at least 1643 when early Russian explorers discovered the lake. In 1723, Peter I of Russia sent the first official scientific expedition to Lake Baikal but it was not really until the Trans-Siberian railway was built around the lake between 1896 and 1902 that real scientific facts and figures concerning the lake could be published.
The scenic railway loop encircling Lake Baikal required 200 bridges and 33 tunnels as the entire lake is surrounded by mountains.
Lake Baikal is often referred to as the “Galapagos of Russia” and is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals and roughly 70% of the species are endemic to the area which is by far the highest concentration of endemic species of any lake in the world. The lake was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 and at more than 25 million years old it is the oldest lake in the world.
It is believed that the bottom of Lake Baikal contains thermal vents which play a role in the unusually high oxygen levels in the lake. These high oxygen concentrations enable a much wider variety of plants and animals to thrive in depths that would otherwise be inhospitable to life.
Species located in and around Lake Baikal include The Baikal Seal or nerpa
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which is found throughout Lake Baikal and is one of only three entirely freshwater seal species in the world,
Image via Wikipedia
the omul which is a type of salmon widely caught and sold in the area, a small crayfish, Baikal Epishura, which eats incredible amounts of algae and helps keep Lake Baikal clear up to an incredible 130 feet down, the Golomyanka which is a long-finned, translucent extremely fatty fish that will melt down to a puddle of just oil and bones when exposed to the sun and the largest flatworm on earth which can mature to almost 16 inches long and hunts fish for food!
In addition to the omul, the Baikal grayling which is a fast swimming salmonid and is popular among anglers and the Baikal sturgeon are both important endemic species with commercial value. Bear and deer are widely hunted in the Lake Baikal area and the area has also become increasingly popular for tourists as the area opens up to hiking, biking, camping, rafting and kayaking in and around Lake Baikal, “the Pearl of Siberia”.
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