If anyone thinks that the Salton Sea (both its creation and demise) is an ecological disaster, wait until one sees the Aral Sea. The Aral Sea was the world's fourth-largest lake (and almost the third largest lake). Today it has all but disappeared and the fishing boats that once fished its rich waters are now found in the middle of the desert.
It's a real-life apocalypse that came true, and one can now see fishing fleets in the middle of the desert. Another famous lake that is disappearing is the Dead Sea - in so doing it is forcing textbooks to rewrite that the lowest point on earth is by about a meter every year.
The Former Size Of the Aral Sea
The only lakes that we larger than the Aral Sea were the neighboring Caspian Sea, Lake Superior, which was virtually the same size as Lake Victoria in Africa. It was larger than either Lake Michigan or Like Heron.
The Aral Sea is (was) located in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. It is an endorheic lake (lake with no outlet). It started shrinking in the 1960s and was largely gone by the 2010s.
- 1997: Only Around 10% Its Original Size (Split Up Into Four Lakes)
- Size: 68,000 km2 (26,300 sq mi)
- Name: Translated as "Sea of Islands" - It Had Over 1,100 Islands
The Demise of The Aral Sea
By 2009 the southeastern lake that had formed had disappeared and the southwestern lake was all but gone. Most of what is left of the lake is in the north in Kazakhstan. What was once the eastern part of the lake is not the Aralkum Desert.
- Aralkum Desert: The Eastern Basin of What Was The Aral Sea
There is an ongoing effort in Kazakhstan to save and replenish the North Aral Sea and they have had some success. Salinity has dropped and fish are again in sufficient numbers to support fishing.
The United Nations called it one of the planet's worst environmental disasters. In 2021 the World Bank stated:
"Once the fourth-largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea has almost disappeared, and it seems nothing can be done to revive its desiccated seabed, restore its natural habitats, and stop the toxic dust storms from decimating communities and livelihoods across the region."
The problem stemmed from the Soviet Union diverting water from the rivers feeding it to irrigate around two million hectares of farmland in the Ferghana Valley. The water was diverted to irrigate Uzbekistan's cotton fields. The lake starved and evaporated.
As the waters receded, the sea became saltier and the fish began to perish due to the rising concentrations of fertilizers and pesticides. Much of what was once the lake is now a poisoned wasteland.
The Ghostly Fishing Fleets
Today visiting the ghostly remains of the once vibrant fishing industry is one of the main attractions to the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan. It is a chance to see a real-life man-make apocalypse in the flesh.
Today it is surreal to see a rusting fleet of fishing boats marooned in the middle of the desert. In the past, a vast fleet once fished its waters, but now the fish are dead, the water is gone, but the fishing boats remain.
The fishing industry once supported thousands and according to the BBC, the town of Moynaq was "the home of a huge fishing fleet and a canning industry which processed the fishermens’ catch."
One former fisherman called Khojabay told the BBC in 2015
“There were fishermen, chefs, sailors, and engineers. These big ships could not reach shallow docks when the sea started shrinking. One by one they stranded in the soft mud, and the mud became the sand in the wind you see now.”
Some of the larger of these fishing boats could carry 40 men, but now they are just rusting hulks in what was once a harbor. They are a ghost fleet of what was once one of the largest lakes on earth - now a fading memory.
In the heyday of this once mighty lake, the Aral Sea accounted for up to a sixth of the Soviet Union's fishing catch.
Like with the Salton Sea in California, the towns are now plagued by health problems from the toxic dust that's whipped up from the bed of the former lake.
Getting To See the Ghost Fleet
Perhaps the best guide for the Central Asian region is Caravanistan. While one can easily visit by oneself, if one would like to have a tour then there are tours departing from the nearby city of Nukus.
- Duration: 2 Day Tour
Cost:
- Group Of Two: $290 Per Person
- Group of Three: $215 Per Person
- Group of Four: $190 Per Person
- Included: 4WD Toyota Land Cruiser, Accommodation in yurts, 2 lunches, 1 Dinner
- Extra: Tour Guide $110 Per Group