My Travel Blog--Lake Baikal

"Breathtaking photos of Frozen Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia"

Lake Baikal Homepage

Last week, I traveled to the freshwater lake with the greatest volume and depth in the world--Lake Baikal in Russia! Before I started my journey, I did some research on Lake Baikal and the surrounding area. The lake is located in the south of Siberia and to the north of mongolia. Lake Baikal contains 20% of the freshwater on the Earth. The water quality is extremely good that on a good day you can see 40 meters into the lake. Since it is April now, the lake is still frozen but is starting to melt. The following two graphs provide the information on temperature and precipitation at Lake Baikal. As you can see, the highest average temperature can reach 15 degrees Celsius during summer and 25 degrees below 0 during winter. Also, I didn't experience any rainfall, because the amount of rainfall in April is one of the fewest among the entire year on average. 

Norwegian Meteorological Institute

Norwegian Meteorological Institute

Day 1 Vegetation:

There are about 1,085 species of plants and many of them are "endemic", existing only in the area of Lake Baikal.

On my second day at Lake Balkai, I went to Pribaikalye and visited the famous taiga forest.  I saw the light green of larch, birch, poplar and alder trees growing in the lower belt, covering the slopes. Higher up it is replaced by a belt of a dark coniferous forest - cedar, fir and spruce. Up this belt the slopes are covered with

impassable brushwoods of trailing cedar, through which only bear trails run. Above them on the gentle sloping terrace there are Alpine grasslands with parterres and finally, snowcovered peaks.

In contrast to European new woods the Baikal taiga has preserved trees of all ages - from young ones to 500-600 and even 800 year old giants. It is the only place where pine forests, with the world famous Angara pine tree, extend. Its timber has no match. In the undergrowth of pine forests, on the former burnings and clearings, one can come across rich red bilberries and on the hillsides, fern thickets.

"Lake Baikal Vegetation", BWW.irk.ru

Day 2 Animals:

Lake Baikal is the home of 1,550 species and varieties of animals. More than 80% of the animals are "endemic" as well. 

In the morning, I went on a boat with a local Russian tour guide.

As I heard from my tourist guide on the boat, some fishes can survive more than a mile under water. If they move up to water level with lower pressure, their bodies might literally explode.

Out of all the animals living in the Lake Baikal, the most interesting are the fresh water seals. Here is a picture of it. Look how cute it is!!!

"Nemo Among the Nerpas"

Scientists still have not determined how the seals got to Lake Baikal, although it is supposed that they travelled here in prehistoric times from the Arctic through a river.

The nerpas – how they are often called – differ in many aspects from the Arctic seals as they have adapted to the Baikal climate. For example they have more blood, which makes it possible to them to swim for more than 70 minutes. They can also travel at great depths, sometimes reaching depths of 300 meters under the surface.
One of the most bizarre fish that lives in Lake Baikal is the golomyanka (oil-fish). The golomyanka has no scale and a translucent body. It can swim at depths of more than 1000 meters.

For dinner I had the fish Omul for the main dish. The omul is the most popular fish in Lake Baikal and you will find it in most tourist towns as it is the main food supply of the locals. I took some pictures of them too!

"Omul"

Day 3 Decomposers:

On the third day, I went to a local laboratory and looked at some decomposers.

According to local scientists, there are around 1200 species of invertebrates in the Lake Baikal area. Due to some of these organisms the ability of Lake Baikal for self-purification is one of the greatest. They purify water.

Epishura can be called the filter of Lake Baikal. This small, 1.5 mm long crustacean plays an important role in the pelagic ecosystem. It consumes the majority of Baikal algae and serves an essential feeding object of famous omul. The epishura plays an exceptional part in Baikal's life circle. My fellow scientist took this picture!

Lake Baikal Dimensions of Biodiversity

One-celled and small invertebrate animals, inhabiting the Lake pelagic zone are joined into zooplankton group. They possess such apparatus, that support them in water body. They are free-moving together with Lake waters and occur up to great depths. My friend took this amazing picture!

"Zooplankton"

Day 4 Food Web:

After 3 days of exploring Lake Baikal and talking with scientists, I came up with a food web. This food web shows that algae is feeded on by invertebrates, and fishes feed on invertebrates, and nerpas feed on fishes. On the other hand, invertebrates and other decomposers feed on the dead body of fresh water seal and fish.

"Lake Baikal"

End of Journey: As the journey comes to an end, I started concluding my observations from this trip.

Adaptations:

1. Nerpa: The nerpa are known for their ability to swim under water. They have 2 more liters of blood which enables the nerpa to do without fresh air for almost 70 minutes. According to the observations of workers of the Limnological Institute, nerpa is able to dive at a depth of almost 300 m. This difference from other seals allow them to swim longer. My conjecture of this adaptation is that since Lake Baikal is surrounded with cliffs and has such great size, the nerpa need longer time to spend under water to get a shore or beach where they can get out of water and breathe.

2. Angara Pine: This type of pine tree is different from its original structure in Europe. Angara pine has higher density and higher durability because it has to withstand the cold climate and strong wind during winters. 

Symbiosis:

According to scientists, sponges live in a symbiotic relationship with the photosynthetic algae. The algae lives close to the surface of the sponge, and photosynthesizes light. The algae is provided with a beneficial habitat, protected from predators. The sponge benefits from the by-product of photosynthesis, oxygen.