Baikal: interesting facts for children, geography, flora and fauna, history. Lake Baikal Children and youth tourism

Lake Baikal - what is it like?

Map of Lake Baikal

In outline, Baikal looks like a narrow crescent, so easy to remember that it can be easily found on the map of Russia even by those who are not particularly strong in geography. Stretching from the southwest to the northeast for as much as 636 kilometers, Baikal seems to squeeze between mountain ranges, and its water surface is at an altitude of more than 450 meters above sea level, which gives every reason to consider it a mountain lake. From the west, the Baikal and Primorsky ridges adjoin it, from the east and southeast - the massifs of Ulan-Burgasy, Khamar-Daban and Barguzinsky. And this whole natural landscape is so harmonious that it is difficult to imagine one without the other.

More Oleg Kirillovich Gusev (1930-2012), candidate of biological sciences, professional hunter, Chief Editor the oldest magazine in Russia "Hunting and Hunting" and the author of several books on the problems of preserving the unique nature of this lake, wrote: "Baikal gives us great joy and great pleasure." And he added: “It strikes with its monumental style and the beautiful, eternal and powerful that is inherent in its very nature”, emphasizing that the more you get close to it, the more tempting it becomes, and the more clearly you understand that Baikal is unique and charmingly inimitable. Anyone who visits here at least once can be convinced of the veracity of these words.

lake depth

The depth of the lake is truly impressive - 1637 meters. According to this indicator, Baikal surpasses such largest water bodies as Tanganyika (1470 m), the Caspian Sea (1025 m), San Martin (836 m), Nyasa (706 m), Issyk-Kul (702 m) and the Great Slave Lake (614 m). m). The remaining deepest lakes in the world, twenty-two in total, are less than 600 meters deep. And the climatic conditions on Baikal, as they say, match its unique features: here the sun is mercilessly scorching and cold winds are blowing, storms are raging and the calmest weather is set, conducive to beach recreation.

Features and mysteries of Baikal

The coastline of the Siberian "crescent" is 2100 km long, it has 27 islands, the largest of which is Olkhon. The lake is located in a kind of basin, which, as mentioned above, is surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges and hills. This gives reason to assume that coastline the reservoir is the same throughout. In fact, only the western coast of Baikal is rocky and steep. The relief of the eastern one is more gentle: in some places the mountain peaks are at a distance of 10 or more kilometers from the coast.

Lake Baikal water

Clear water of Lake Baikal

23,615.39 km³ - such a fantastic figure measures the reserves of Baikal water. According to this indicator, the lake is second only to the Caspian Sea. Considering that in the latter it is salty, it is Baikal that occupies the first line of the world ranking in terms of fresh water reserves, that is, suitable for drinking water. In addition, it is extremely transparent, and all thanks to a very small amount of suspended and dissolved minerals, not to mention organic impurities - they are generally negligible here. At a depth of up to 35-40 meters, you can even distinguish individual stones, especially in spring, when the water turns blue. It also has a huge supply of oxygen. It is not for nothing that Baikal is called the national treasure of Russia for the combination of such unique properties and qualities.

The water in Baikal is very clean. Previously, it could be drunk directly from the lake and not even boiled. But now crowds of tourists have rushed to Lake Baikal, who still pollute this area, so now, before drinking Baikal water, you should ask the locals where this can be done.

Baikal ice

The time of freezing on the lake lasts on average from the beginning of January to the beginning of May. During this period, it freezes almost completely. The only exception is a small 15-20-kilometer section located at the source of the Angara. At the end of winter, the ice thickness can reach 1 meter, and even more in the bays - one and a half to two meters. In severe frosts, huge cracks form on the ice, which are called here “stand cracks”. They are so impressive that they can reach from 10 to 30 km in length. The width, however, is small: only 2-3 m. Such “slits” literally tear the ice cover into separate fields. If it were not for cracks, the formation of which is accompanied by a loud, like a cannon shot, sound, then lake fish would die en masse from a lack of oxygen.

Baikal ice has a number of other features that are unique to it, and truly mysterious, which scientists have not been able to explain. Back in the middle of the last century, specialists from the local limnological station discovered the so-called "hills" - hollow ice hills in the shape of a cone, reaching a height of 5-6 meters. Being "open" to the side opposite the shore, they even somewhat resemble tents. Sometimes there are "solitary hills", that is, located separately from each other. In some cases, they are grouped, forming "mountain ranges" in miniature.

Ice of Lake Baikal

Dark rings on the lake

Another mystery is the dark rings, the diameter of which is 5-7 km (moreover, the width of the lake itself is 80 km). They have nothing to do with the "belt of Saturn", although they were also discovered through satellite imagery. Satellite photographs of amazing formations, taken back in 2009 in different parts of Lake Baikal, went around the entire Internet. Scientists puzzled for a long time: what could it be? And they came to the conclusion that the rings arise due to the rise of deep waters and an increase in the temperature of the upper layer in the center of the ring structure. And as a result, a clockwise flow arises, reaching in some zones maximum speeds. As a result, vertical water exchange increases, provoking the destruction of the ice cover in an accelerated mode.

Bottom of Baikal

It is impossible not to say about the bottom of the amazing reservoir. It also differs from others, and above all in that it has a very pronounced relief - there are even underwater mountain ranges here. The three main basins of the lake - northern, southern and middle, separated by the Akademichesky and Selenginsky ridges - are distinguished by a pronounced bed. The first ridge (its maximum height above the bottom is 1848 meters) is especially expressive: it stretches for as much as 100 km from Olkhon Island to the Ushkany Islands.

Bottom of Lake Baikal

earthquakes

Another feature of these places is high seismic activity. Fluctuations of the earth's crust here occur regularly, but the strength of most earthquakes does not exceed one or two points. But there have been powerful ones in the past. For example, in 1862, when a ten-point “shake” led to the sinking of an entire piece of land in the northern part of the Selenga delta, one of the many tributaries of Baikal, under water. Its area was 200 km, about 1500 people lived in this territory. Later, a bay formed here, which is called the Failure. Strong earthquakes also occurred in 1903, 1950, 1957 and 1959. The epicenter of the latter, 9-point, was at the bottom of the lake in the area rural settlement Dry. The aftershocks were then also felt in Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude - about 5-6 points. In our time, the region was shaking in 2008 and 2010: the strength of the tremors was 9 and 6.1 points, respectively.

Origin of Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal still hides the secret of its origin. Researchers often argue about its age, coming to the conclusion that it is at least 25-35 million years. The indicator is impressive, especially considering that the life cycle of most lakes, and primarily of glacial origin, does not exceed 10-15 thousand years. After this period, they either become swampy or filled with silty sediments. With Baikal, nothing like this has happened and is not happening. And, according to scientists, is unlikely to happen in the future. The lack of signs of aging is explained by the fact that the lake is ... a nascent ocean. The hypothesis did not arise out of the blue: as it turned out, its banks move away from each other by 2 cm every year.

Flora and fauna

An interesting fact: the purity of Baikal water - by the way, very cold (the temperature of the surface layers even in the warm season does not exceed an average of + 8-9 ° C) - is maintained by the microscopic crustacean epishura, one of the most famous local endemics. In the course of its life, this 1.5 mm crustacean consumes organic matter (algae), passing water through its small body. The role of epishura in the ecosystem of the lake can hardly be overestimated: it forms 90 or more percent of its biomass, serving in turn as food for the Baikal omul and predatory invertebrates. In the processes of self-purification of Lake Baikal, oligochaetes or oligochaetes also play a significant role, 84.5 percent of which are endemic.

Of the 2600 species and subspecies of the local fauna, more than half of the aquatic animals are endemic, that is, living exclusively in this lake. Among the fish, one can also distinguish grayling, Baikal sturgeon, whitefish, taimen, pike, burbot and others. Of particular interest is the golomyanka, which, from a human point of view, “suffers” from obesity: its body contains about 30% fat. She loves to eat so much that in search of food every day she makes a “journey” from the depths to shallow water, which surprises researchers a lot. This underwater inhabitant is also unique in that it belongs to viviparous fish. The distant "neighbors" of golomyankas can be called freshwater sponges growing at great depths. Their presence here is an exclusive phenomenon: they are not found in any other lake.

If the biosphere of the lake is presented in the form of a pyramid, then it will be crowned by the Baikal seal or seal, which is the only mammal in this reservoir. Almost all the time he lives in the water. The only exception is autumn, when seals lie en masse on rocky shores, forming a kind of "settlement". Many other inhabitants of Baikal also explore the coast and islands, for example, gulls, goldeneyes, shelducks, mergansers, white-tailed eagles and other birds. Typical for these places is such a phenomenon as access to the coast, and in en masse, brown bears. And in the mountainous Baikal taiga you can meet musk deer - the smallest deer on Earth.

Attractions of Baikal

Lake Baikal is so majestic that it is often called the Siberian Sea. In 1996, it was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. world heritage. But not only due to the unique ecosystem that requires careful treatment - there are also many historical and architectural sights, not to mention natural and cultural monuments.

One of them is located near the lake, at the source of the Angara, a reserved rock called the Shaman-stone. It can be seen in the middle of the river, between capes Rogatka and Ustyansky. If you focus on the line of the Port-Baikal ferry crossing, then the rock will be 800 meters lower. Since ancient times, the Shaman-stone was endowed by the inhabitants of the Angara region with unusual power, they prayed near it and performed various shamanic rites.

Between the mainland and the Svyatoy Nos peninsula is perhaps the most famous bay on Baikal - Chivyrkuisky. Its area is approximately 300 km², it is the second largest on the lake, and it is also shallow (about 10 m deep). Thanks to the latter circumstance, the water in the bay warms up well, on average up to +24 degrees. On the southwestern coast there are such settlements as Kurbulik, Katun and Monakhovo. The main wealth of the bay is fish resources. Here you can find pike, perch, horned catfish, the weight of which can reach tens of kilograms. However, fishing on an industrial scale is prohibited - only amateur. The Chivyrkuisky Bay is also known for its thermal spring, one of the hottest: the temperature of the water used to treat diseases of the musculoskeletal system ranges from 38.5-45.5 ° C. The source is located in the Zmeina Bay, on the western side.

On the northeastern coast of Lake Baikal there is a tract belonging to the natural-geographical region of Podlemorie. It is called Frolikha and includes the river of the same name, which flows into the Baikal Frolikha Bay and flows out of the lake with the same name. In the river valley - its channel, by the way, crosses the well-known tourist route 95 km long - there is the Frolikhinsky nature reserve. Together with the Zabaikalsky National Park and the Barguzinsky Reserve, it is subordinate to the federal budget government agency"Reserved Podlemorie".

Other attractions:

• Northern Baikal is the last site on the great lake, the nature of which, due to the remoteness and lack of roads, retains its originality,
• Barguzinsky Bay is the largest and deepest in Baikal,
• Ushkany Islands is a small archipelago with rocky shores in the Barguzinsky district of Buryatia,
• Peschanaya Bay, known for its unique beauty,
• Cape Ryty is the northernmost point of the coast, where there are extensive pastures, and one of the most anomalous places,
• Cape Ludar, located near the old village of Zabaikalskoye,
• Chersky Peak - from its slopes the Slyudanka and Bezymyannaya rivers begin, flowing into Baikal,
• The Circum-Baikal Railway, which has historical significance.

Rest on Baikal

It was along the Circum-Baikal Railway in the 80s of the XX century that the Bureau of International Youth Tourism "Sputnik" (Irkutsk) developed the first ecological tour. Since that time, ecotourism on Baikal has been actively developing, despite the fact that the tourist infrastructure is not well developed here, there are some transport difficulties. There are also problems associated with pollution. environment emissions from the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill. But all of them are to some extent compensated by the activities for the creation and arrangement of excursion trails, regularly carried out by tourist organizations in the region.

The most favorable time for relaxing on the lake is from May to October. You can swim in July and August, since these months are the hottest - the air warms up to + 30 ° C, shallow water - up to + 25 ° C. Vacation on Lake Baikal will satisfy the needs of even the most demanding tourists. Beach holidays, bicycle and car excursions, hiking along the coast, rafting on catamarans and kayaks, quad biking and even helicopter tours - these are far from complete list what travel agencies offer to their customers. Climbing coastal cliffs and descending into caves are popular.

Fishing

Fishing should be mentioned separately. Many amateurs fish from the rocks adjacent to the lake. The most reckless anglers prefer to settle in specialized bases, of which there are many, and which differ different levels comfort. They go fishing on rented vessels. The most popular places for fishing on Baikal are the already mentioned Chivyrkuisky Bay, Mukhor Bay, the shallow bays of the Small Sea and, of course, the rivers flowing into it. The largest of them (besides the Selenga) are the Upper Angara, Snezhnaya, Barguzin, Kichera, Turka, Buguldeyka and Goloustnaya. And only one river flows out of the lake - the Angara.

Fishing on Baikal

Fishing, only now under the ice, finds its fans in the winter season, which here lasts from late December to mid-May. Fans of the "second Russian hunt" are helped by professional instructors: without them, it is difficult for inexperienced fishermen to do in an unusual transparent ice correct hole. They willingly share the secrets of how to organize a comfortable stay in the conditions of 40-degree frosts, which are not uncommon for Baikal. And those who do not want to test their health with extreme cold, go underwater fishing in March and April. At this time, the ice is still strong, and the air temperature begins to reach positive levels.

Winter sports

Of winter entertainment, tourists are also offered dog sledding (the routes are very different both in complexity and length), snowmobile rides (excursion programs are also different and depend on the level of preparedness of the riders), riding skiing, sledges and snowboards (you can rent ski equipment at numerous rental points on the coast). In winter, as, indeed, in summer, helicopter excursions are held in high esteem among vacationers, giving unforgettable impressions for a lifetime.

Children and youth tourism

Sufficiently developed on Baikal and children's tourism, involving recreation in summer camps. We will immediately please parents: your children will not be bored here. Staying in a children's institution involves a rich excursion and creative program, including the holding of sanatorium and health-improving events at specialized bases. One of the most convenient places on Baikal for recreation with young children is Mandarkhan Bay. It seems as if it was specially created by nature for this purpose: it is very shallow, and in summer there is perhaps the warmest water here and children do not risk catching a cold.

The youth is not left unattended. For her interregional public organization"Great Baikal Trail", created in 2003, various international programs taking into account the specifics and needs of the age of up to 30. For example, the arrangement and reconstruction of ecological paths, the holding of educational lectures on the topic of nature protection. Schoolchildren are also actively involved as listeners of the latter.

Video: The underwater world of Lake Baikal

Hotels and recreation centers on Lake Baikal

Many tourists come to rest on Baikal, as they say, savages, getting on their cars. They choose a place they like on the coast and stop there, spending the night in tents. There are very few campsites specially equipped for motorists on the lake. If you plan to stop at such a site, you should take into account that there may not be firewood and basic amenities (for example, a toilet) in this place. Therefore, think in advance about how you will “survive”.

Such experiences will be spared by those who prefer to travel in comfort, even minimal. At their service are many hotels, recreation centers and guest houses scattered along the entire coast of Lake Baikal. Moreover, each tourist will be able to find the most suitable accommodation option for him - taking into account, of course, individual preferences and financial capabilities. Forced to upset the bohemian public: five-star hotels with the highest level there is no service here. She, like "mere mortals", will have to be content with ordinary rooms with all amenities. Another note: some recreation centers accept tourists only in the summer.

Tourists traveling on their own run the risk of running into unscrupulous intermediaries when booking a hotel room or recreation center. To prevent this from happening, book a hotel room only through proven and reliable services, which will not only save you from scammers, but also allow you to rent a room at the lowest cost, without unnecessary markups. We recommend Booking.com, one of the first and most popular online hotel booking systems.

How to get there

There are various ways to get to Baikal. The starting point, as a rule, is the nearby large cities: Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Severobaikalsk. Tourists first come to one of these settlements and plan their further route in detail there. The trip on the section of the Trans-Siberian Railway between Ulan-Ude and Irkutsk is especially memorable: the lake stretches right outside the train windows and you can admire its magical panorama for hours.

One of the most popular tourist destinations on the Siberian Sea is the village of Listvyanka, located at the source of the Angara, 65 km from Irkutsk. From the regional center you can get here by bus or boat, the travel time is a little more than an hour. All water transport routes originate in Irkutsk, plying not only on Baikal, but also on the Angara.

Lake Baikal for the majority is somewhere very far away. The origin of Lake Baikal is shrouded in legends about great catastrophes on a planetary scale, about gods and their deeds. The scientific point of view also exists - there is no mysticism in it, of course.

Lake Baikal is located on the territory of the Irkutsk region and Buryatia. It is considered a lake of tectonic origin. The age of Baikal is estimated differently. Some scientists put 35 million years. But the doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences A.V. Tatarinov in 2009 put forward a version that the deep-water part of Lake Baikal was formed 150 thousand years ago, and the modern coastline was only 8 thousand years old. Tatarinov substantiated such results with the results of the Mirs expedition to Baikal. So, with the age of Lake Baikal, everything is also very ambiguous.

Lake Baikal is also called the Siberian Sea.

Lake Baikal contains 19% of all world reserves fresh water. How much water is in Lake Baikal is estimated at 23,615 km³. There is only one lake in the world, the displacement of which is greater than in Baikal - the Caspian Sea (not everyone knows, but there is a lake along this sea).

Despite the fact that Baikal is located in, there is a lot of sun here. Climatic conditions on Baikal have their own unique features: either the sun is mercilessly hot, but cold winds blow, then fierce storms fly in, then in summer a quiet and hot weather and tens of thousands of tourists flock to Lake Baikal for beach holiday. In terms of the number of sunny days, Lake Baikal surpasses many resorts on the Black Sea and Mediterranean coasts.

The maximum depth of Lake Baikal is 1642 m. Many people write that Lake Baikal is shaped like a crescent moon. Rather, sorry if something is wrong - a banana. But very big. The length of Baikal is 620 km (as from Moscow to St. Petersburg approximately), the width reaches 80 km. The length of the coastline is 2100 km.

Lake Baikal has 27 islands, the largest of them. Many islands are sacred to the locals and protected by law. In general, there are many sacred places on Baikal, the history of which is shrouded in mystery and legends. The predominant religion here is rather Buddhism, at least Buddhist symbols and objects of worship are found everywhere.

(function(w, d, n, s, t) ( w[n] = w[n] || ; w[n].push(function() ( Ya.Context.AdvManager.render(( blockId: "R-A -256054-1", renderTo: "yandex_rtb_R-A-256054-1", async: true )); )); t = d.getElementsByTagName("script"); s = d.createElement("script"); s .type = "text/javascript"; s.src = "//an.yandex.ru/system/context.js"; s.async = true; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); ))(this , this.document, "yandexContextAsyncCallbacks");

Lake Baikal water

The water temperature in Baikal is a phenomenon. In summer, only the upper layer of water and shallow coastal bays warm up in the lake. But at a depth the temperature is always constant - about +4 ° C.

The waters of Lake Baikal are a separate mystery. Lakes of this age do not have such crystal clear water, and in Baikal it is very clean. Usually, over time, lakes silt up, and after 10-15 thousand years, swamps are already in their place. Baikal not only does not grow shallow, but also contains clean water that you can drink directly from the lake without fear. In addition, the water of Lake Baikal is saturated with oxygen to a very high degree in comparison with other freshwater reservoirs.

Lake Baikal owes its purity to a small (1.5 mm long) crustacean called epishura. There are a lot of these crustaceans in the water of the lake. They clean the water and are food for the famous Baikal omul and predatory invertebrates.

The transparency of water in Baikal is also very high. IN good weather through the 40-meter water column you can see the bottom of the lake! In winter, Baikal also has surprisingly transparent ice. You just need to find a place that is not swept up by snow, and so to speak - feel like God - walk on the water. The water above is really frozen, but below it is the same picture - the bottom, fish, and you are walking above them.

Baikal is fed by the waters of more than 300 rivers, and only one river flows out of Baikal -.

Baikal ice

Lake Baikal does not freeze evenly in winter. Bays and bays, as well as the northern part of the lake freezes in November - December. And in the south, ice rises only in February, and if the winter is warm, then even at the end of February.

The thickness of the ice on Baikal by the end of winter reaches 1 m, and in the bays - 1.5–2 m. There is a phenomenon on Baikal that the locals call "stanovye cracks". This is when cracks appear in the ice in severe frost. They break the ice into separate large fields. The length of these cracks is amazing - from 10 to 30 km, and the width is only 2-3 m. As you understand, it is better not to be in such a place at the time of the break. Breaks occur every year and in approximately the same places of the lake. The sound effect is similar to gun shots.

Such gaps save the fish in the lake from lack of oxygen. Here is such a mysterious, but necessary natural mechanism for the lake. And due to the transparency of ice, sunlight penetrates through it, due to which planktonic algae that release oxygen in the water develop rapidly even in winter.

Another amazing phenomenon with ice on Baikal - ice hills. These are hollow cone-shaped ice hills that reach a height of 5-6 meters. In some of them you can find the "entrance", and it is usually located in the direction opposite to the shore. Such an ice tent turns out. Sometimes such tents stand alone, but often they are grouped, resembling mountain ranges, only in miniature.

Another mysterious phenomenon was discovered using space photography - dark rings.

The rings have a diameter of up to 7 km. Scientists came to the conclusion that the rings are formed due to the rise of water from the depths of the lake. Due to the temperature difference, a clockwise flow occurs, reaching different velocities in individual zones. As a result, the ice cover is destroyed, and the shape of the destroyed areas is ring-shaped.

Shores of Lake Baikal

The landscape of the coast is very diverse. The largest part occupies the taiga, in some places it is swampy. There are many hard-to-pass places where there are neither roads nor settlements. But there are many such areas that look quite hospitable, sand, pines, cedars, wild rosemary. But from the side of the Tazheran steppe, in the vicinity and on the island, the landscapes of the Baikal region are different - steppes, rocks with forests of Siberian larch.

The terrain on the coast of Lake Baikal is generally mountainous and the transport infrastructure suffers greatly because of this. In many places, in order to travel by road from one settlement located on the coast to another located, you need to make a long detour of tens of kilometers. A quarter of the coast of Lake Baikal has no public roads at all and is practically uninhabited (there are places for the Chinese to settle, I think they are happy).

Bottom relief

Lake Baikal is unique in terms of bottom topography. It has its own underwater mountain ranges, the largest of which are Akademichesky and Selenginsky. These ridges divide the lake into three basins.

Earthquakes are not excluded on Baikal. More precisely, this is a common thing. But tremors usually do not exceed 2 points. But there were other cases:

• in 1862, an earthquake of 10 points was recorded, as a result of which a land area in the northern part of the Selenga delta went under water
• there were points about 9 points in 1903, 1950, 1957 and 1959
• in 2008 - 9 points
• in 2010 - 6 points

Fauna and flora of Baikal

vegetable and animal world are unique here. The lake serves as a safe haven for almost three thousand species of animals and thousands of plants. Many species are found only here. And this despite the fact that, as scientists suggest, more than 20% of the living organisms living in the lake are still unknown to science. Fishing lovers will be fine on Baikal (if the bite goes, of course). Grayling, taimen, whitefish, sturgeon, omul, lenok, golomyanka are common. There are about sixty species in total.

The top of the biosphere on Lake Baikal is occupied by the Baikal seal. There are no other mammals in this reservoir. Until now, there are heated debates about how the Baikal seal, a purely marine mammal, got to Baikal and comfortably settled down here. It is assumed that she got here in the distant times of the Ice Age, moving from the Arctic Ocean along the Angara and Yenisei. Now tens of thousands of animals live here.

Many animals and birds also live along the shores of Lake Baikal. Here you will meet gulls, goldeneye, there are shelducks, mergansers, white-tailed eagles, and other birds. You can see the mass bathing of brown bears (just be careful!). Musk deer, the smallest deer on Earth, lives in the mountainous part of the Baikal taiga.

Where does the name Baikal come from?

Researchers are still arguing about the origin of the name of the lake. Several guesses:

• Bai-Kul - translated from Turkic means "rich lake";
• Baigal - from the Mongolian "rich fire";
• Baigal Dalai - in the same Mongolian means "big lake";
• Beihai - in Chinese means "North Sea";
• Baigal-Nuur - Buryat name;
• Lamu - this is what the Evenki called the lake.

It is believed that the first explorers, who appeared here in the seventeenth century, eventually adopted the Buryat name, but softened the letter “g”, giving the name the current sound.

Tourism and recreation on Lake Baikal

There are a lot of beautiful places on Baikal. On my site you will find many stories of our tourists about trips and holidays on Baikal (see the section "Stories"). A feature of tourism on Baikal is that the places you would like to see are often located at great distances from each other. So if you want to see not everything, but many of the beauties of Lake Baikal, you need to work out a competent route. If you feel that you can’t do it yourself, contact private guides or buy a comprehensive tour to Baikal.

In any case, you will not be able to see everything on Baikal at one time. Baikal is large, to go around it all you will need more than one vacation.

Most mass visit Baikal tourists going on course in summer. The most popular places are the village of Listvyanka, the Small Sea and Olkhon Island. People with a small budget, and even the most demanding, will find a place for themselves. Lake Baikal is visited not only by Russians, but by many tourists from all over the world. The latter, moreover, sometimes give fabulous money for such a vacation, but they still go.

In general, judging by the reviews, holidays on Lake Baikal are not among the cheapest, especially if you need to travel from other than nearby cities. Nevertheless, Baikal sets attendance records - the number of tourists is estimated at seven figures per year.

In summer, people relax on the beaches, go on bicycle and car tours, and go hiking along the coast. There are rafting on the rivers flowing into Baikal, and much more.

Climbing cliffs, mountains and descents into grottoes and caves are popular in all seasons.

Fishing

There are a lot of fish in Baikal and lovers find a variety of places in the hope of catching omul or other fish on their own. For the most gambling, there are specialized bases with different levels of comfort. Fishing is done on rented boats.

The most popular places for fishing on Baikal are Chivyrkuisky Bay, Mukhor Bay, shallow bays of the Small Sea and, of course, rivers flowing into the lake.

Lake Baikal in winter

Despite the harshness of the Siberian climate, there are people who like to come to Lake Baikal in winter. Fantastic ice world Baikal is mesmerizing. Snowmobiling and dog sledding are popular.

Most Popular Attractions

Many historical and architectural sights, even more monuments of nature and culture are concentrated on Baikal.

One of the most famous attractions is shaman stone. This is a pair of boulders rising above the water at the source of the Angara. Locals have been worshiping these stones since time immemorial and consider them endowed with special powers.

Another rock, the photo of which is unusually distributed on the Internet at the request of "Baikal" and "Olkhon Island" - Rock Shamanka. Also a sacred place for the Buryats, access here for tourists was not always open.

There are also many other religious and historical places on Olkhon Island. Olkhon is good because in the summer you can sunbathe there, swim, and visit a bunch of excursions or travel around the island on your own.

Holiday seasons on Baikal

Baikal is beautiful in all seasons. Summer, as well as throughout Russia, is the most popular season. The warmest from the second half of July to the beginning of August. Since November, it has become not very hospitable here, until the ice rises. In March and early April, tourists flock to Lake Baikal, especially those who like to take photos. The reason for this is the sparkling, transparent ice of Baikal. There is another one - ice fishing. In the spring, Baikal is also very beautiful, there are no more severe frosts and winds. lovers winter holiday find the combination of weather conditions and the beauty of landscapes very attractive.

Relax on Baikal, enjoy its nature and energy. Take care of Lake Baikal, do not leave dumps behind you, do not arrange logging. This lake is thousands of years old, and after many, many years, it needs to be as beautiful and attractive as it is now.

Oz. Baikal is widely known not only in our country, but also abroad. Attention to this amazing lake has especially increased in the last 20 years. Through the efforts of specialists, scientists and social movements, Lake. Baikal is included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List (1996).

The ecosystem of the lake Baikal, including its drainage basin, annually reproduces an average of 60 km 3 of water. It is this volume of water (0.26% of the total reserves) that constitutes the renewable resources of Lake Baikal, which are currently almost completely used by the Angara HPP cascade. In the lake About 350 rivers flow into Baikal, constantly carrying their waters into the lake. With logs and ravines being channels of temporary streams formed during rainfall, their number can increase up to 1123.

Baikal Square natural area(BPT) is 386 thousand square meters. km and more than the area of ​​all other reserves and national parks Russia, taken together (317 thousand sq. km), is larger than the area of ​​Germany, Finland, Italy, Great Britain. The central ecological zone of the BNT (about 90 thousand sq. km) is a site of the UNESCO World Natural Heritage.

Baikal is located almost in the center of Asia, at the latitude of Moscow and London. Its length is 636 km, the maximum width is 79.5 km, and the minimum is 25 km. The area of ​​the water surface of the lake is 31,500 km2, which is approximately equal to the area of ​​such a state as Belgium. With a maximum depth of 1637 m, Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world.

Baikal was formed about 30 million years ago and is the oldest lake in the world. It is located in a huge depression, limited by faults in the earth's crust, which continues to expand by about 2 cm per year. Baikal is a mountain lake, its level is 445 meters higher than the world ocean level. The bottom of the lake is located almost 1200 m below the ocean level. The thickness of lacustrine deposits in a number of places reaches almost 10 km. The sediments of the lake encoded information about climate change and geological history Asia over the past 25-30 million years.

Baikal contains 23,000 km 3 or 20% of the world's surface fresh water reserves, which meet the best quality standards for clean drinking water in terms of microbiological, organoleptic and hydrochemical parameters.

The basin of the lake can hold all the water Baltic Sea or the water of all five of America's Great Lakes. The Angara River flowing out of the lake carries out 2000 m3 of water per second. If the flow of all the rivers flowing into the lake stopped, then in this case the Angara could flow out of Baikal for 360 years. It would take the entire annual flow of the world's rivers to fill the basin.

Baikal water is distinguished by unusual purity and transparency. The white disc of Secchi, used to determine the transparency of water, is visible in Baikal to a depth of 40 meters, while the transparency of the waters of the Caspian Sea does not exceed 25 meters, Lake Sevan - 20 meters. In terms of water transparency, Baikal is inferior to famous alpine lakes.

A unique feature of Lake Baikal is the high diversity and endemism of plants and animals living in it. Currently, 2565 species and subspecies of animals and 1000 species, subspecies and forms of aquatic plants are registered in Baikal, of which 2/3 are endemic, that is, they are not found anywhere else. To this number must be added many hundreds of species of aquatic and bottom microorganisms, as well as still little studied viruses and phages. The species diversity of Baikal has no equal among the ancient and Great Lakes of the World. In terms of the number of species, the fauna of Baikal hydrobionts is more than 2 times richer compared to that of Lake Baikal. Tanganyika (1248 species) and almost 13 times more than in Lake. Titicaca ( South America). Taking into account the fact that more than 20 species of invertebrates are described annually for Baikal, experts predict the presence of more than 1,500 species of Baikal hydrobionts, which are not yet known to science.

Amazing diversity and endemism are characteristic of all types and classes of animals, as well as environmental groups hydrobionts of Baikal.

The top of the trophic pyramid in the ecosystem of the lake is the endemic Baikal seal (nerpa), whose ancestors, apparently, were Arctic seals, which in ancient times penetrated here along the Lena or Yenisei.

The island nature of the uniqueness of the fauna and flora of Baikal in the Paleoarctic Ocean poses not only important and fascinating biogeographic problems global scope, but also practical in terms of a differentiated approach to the development of a strategy and tactics for the conservation of the biodiversity of Southern, Middle and Northern Baikal, as independent biogeographic subdivisions of different ranks, as well as transitional zones (ecotones).

In addition to the phenomenon of a continuous and intensive process of speciation and neoevolution, a number of specific phenomena are observed in the Baikal biota:

The phenomenon of gigantism is most pronounced in deep-sea gammarids, especially Acanthogammarus, as well as in turbellarians and planarians. It is also observed in diatoms - dominant in phytoplankton. Under the same conditions, in some species and groups of organisms, the phenomenon of dwarfism manifests itself. Thus, a group of algae (cell diameter 1.5–3.0 microns) was discovered in the composition of phytoplankton, which constitutes ultranannoplankton, which in certain periods creates a significant proportion of primary production (primary food of all consumers) in the Baikal pelagial.

Obviously, there is no limit to the knowledge of the wonders of Baikal. Recently, peculiar biological communities have been discovered near underwater warm springs, where the first food is organic matter, created not by photosynthesis, but by chemosynthesis from methane. Similar communities were previously known for the oceanic depths. An old thesis: in Baikal - as in the ocean, I found a new confirmation.

The preservation of Baikal for future generations of people as a world source of clean fresh water and as a natural site with unique landscapes and fauna and flora unique in its diversity is essential condition sustainable development of the Baikal region.

Information portal BAIKAL-LAKE http://baikal-center.ru

Lake Baikal in numbers:

Contains 23 thousand cubic meters. km of fresh water - 20% of world reserves
Age - 25-30 million years
Length - 636 km
Width - from 25 to 80 km
Maximum depth - 1637 m, average depth - 731 m
The length of the coastline is more than 2000 km
The catchment area is about 570 thousand square meters. km
There are 22 islands on the lake, of which the largest is Olkhon
More than 340 rivers flow in, one flows out - the Angara
Over 2500 species of animals, of which 82% are endemic
Over 1000 plant species
Over 50 types of fish

The younger generation had a chance to write a comprehensive work “What is Lake Baikal famous for?” 4th grade high school left in our memory not so much information. This is the most in the world, - people over forty will say. But this is not the only indicator that brings Lake Baikal into the category of champions. Well, let's update our information about this gem of Russia. It is not for nothing that the lake is called the sacred sea! It is rightfully considered a unique creation of Mother Nature, the pride and national treasure of Russia.

How natural object Baikal was included in 1996, at the twentieth session of UNESCO, in the World Heritage List of Humanity (number 754). What is the uniqueness of this lake? We will talk about this in our article.

Where is Lake Baikal located and what is famous for (briefly)

This natural unique attraction is located almost in the center of Asia. On the map of our country, the lake is located in Eastern Siberia, in its southernmost part. Administratively, it serves as the border between the Buryat Republic and the Irkutsk region. Russian Federation. Baikal is so big that it can be seen even from space. It stretches like a blue crescent from the southwest to the northeast. Therefore, the local population often calls Baikal not a lake, but a sea. “Baigal dalai” is how the Buryats respectfully call it. The coordinates near the lake are: 53°13′ north latitude and 107°45′ east longitude.

What is Lake Baikal famous for? Let's look at its different options.

Depth

Let's start with common truths. Baikal is not only the deepest lake on the planet, but also the most impressive continental depression. This title has been confirmed. scientific research held in 1983. The deepest place in the lake - 1642 meters from the surface of the water surface - has the coordinates of 53°14′59″ north latitude and 108°05′11″ east longitude. Thus, the lowest point of Baikal lies 1187 meters below sea level. And the lake has a height of 455 meters above the oceans.

The average depth of Baikal is also impressive: seven hundred and forty-four meters. Only two lakes in the world have an indicator of a kilometer between the water surface and the bottom. These are (1025 m) and Tanganyika (1470 m). The deepest - that's what Lake Baikal is famous for.

In English, in Google, a certain East is among the top three record holders. This lake was found in Antarctica. It has a depth of more than 1200 meters, and another four kilometers of ice rises above the water surface. Thus, we can say that the distance between the surface of the earth and the bottom of the East is more than five thousand meters. But this body of water is not a lake in the usual sense of the word. Rather, it is an underground (subglacial) reservoir of water.

Dimensions

The area of ​​this reservoir is 31,722 square kilometers. That is, the size of the lake is quite comparable with such European countries like Switzerland, Belgium or the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The length of Lake Baikal is six hundred and twenty kilometers, and the width varies between 24-79 km. At the same time, the coastline stretched for two thousand one hundred kilometers. And that's not counting the islands!

Dimensions - this is what Lake Baikal is famous for, although this indicator does not make it the largest on the planet. But the reservoir takes an honorable eighth place among the giants. Ahead are the Caspian (which is also a lake, although salty), the Upper in America, Victoria, Huron, Michigan, the Aral Sea and Tanganyika.

honorable age

Baikal is a lake of tectonic origin. This explains its record depth. But when did the tectonic fault occur? This question is still considered open among scientists. Traditionally, the age of Baikal is determined at 20-25 million years. This number seems fantastic. After all, lakes “live” on average about ten, in extreme cases, fifteen thousand years. Then alluvial deposits, silty sediments accumulate and change everything turns into a swamp, and it, after centuries, into a meadow. But Siberians are famous for their centenarians. And what Lake Baikal is famous for is its venerable age.

It should be said that the Siberian giant is also unique in other respects - hydrological. Baikal feeds about three hundred rivers, and only one flows out of it - the Angara. And one more uniqueness: seismic activity during a tectonic fault. From time to time, earthquakes occur at the bottom of the lake. In fact, the sensors record about two thousand of them annually. But sometimes there are large earthquakes. So, in 1959, from the shock, the bottom of the lake sank fifteen meters.

The Kudara earthquake of 1862 was the most memorable for the local residents, when a huge piece of land (200 sq. km) with six villages, in which one thousand three hundred people lived, went under water. This place in the delta is now called Proval Bay.

Unique fresh water tank

Despite the fact that the pearl of Siberia occupies only the eighth place in the world in terms of size, in terms of the volume of water it reaches the record. What is Lake Baikal famous for in this regard? Most of the water is in the Caspian. But it's salty in there. Thus, Baikal can be called the undisputed leader. It contains 23,615.39 cubic kilometers of water. This is about twenty percent of the total reserve of all lakes on the planet. To demonstrate the significance of this figure, let's imagine that we managed to block all three hundred rivers flowing into Baikal. But even then it would take Angara three hundred and eighty-seven years to drain the lake.

Unique fauna and flora

It is also strange that, despite the enormous depth of Baikal, there is benthic vegetation in the lake. This is due to seismic activity under the tectonic depression. Magma heats the bottom layers and enriches them with oxygen. Such warm water rises, and cold water sinks. Half of the 2600 species of animals and plants inhabiting the water area are endemic. Biologists are most surprised by the only mammal of the lake that lives 4 thousand kilometers from its marine counterparts and has adapted well to fresh water.

It is difficult to say which fish Lake Baikal is most famous for. Maybe it's a golomlyanka. She is viviparous. Her body contains up to 30 percent fat. She also surprises scientists with her daily migrations. rise for food from the dark depths in shallow water. The Baikal sturgeon, omul, whitefish, and grayling also live in the lake. And the bottom is covered with freshwater sponges.

Purity and transparency of water

With such an area of ​​the water surface and the presence of industrial enterprises nearby, it would be logical to think that Lake Baikal would become polluted. It wasn't there! The water here is not only drinkable, but close to distilled. You can drink it without fear. And it helps the lake to cleanse itself. This endemic one and a half millimeters in size acts as a natural filter: it passes water through itself, assimilating all the dirt. As a result, the pebbles at the bottom are clearly visible. Water transparency up to forty meters is what Lake Baikal is famous for. The photo of this unique reservoir demonstrates the majestic pristine beauty of nature. It depends on us whether we save it for posterity.