PHOTOS: Dried-up Aral Sea Aftermath

Aral Sea Dirt Road

Photograph by David Piriulin

A dirt road travels through the desert near Shevchenko Bay on the western side of the North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan, in a photo taken in the summer of 2005.

The tracks on the left are deep ruts from use during the wet winter season, and the tracks on the right are used during the dry season, said Micklin, who visits the Aral Sea frequently.

The Aral Sea climate was once considered pleasant, but now summers are hotter and winters are colder, making the area around the sea less hospitable for human life.

Published March 31, 2010

Satellite Photo of Aral Sea, August 2009

Courtesy of NASA

The North Aral Sea and the western lobe of the South Aral Sea are visible in this photo from NASA's MODIS satellite, taken in August of 2009. An outline of the approximate water level from 1960 is overlaid on the photo.

As the lake dried up it split into two sections, now separated by a dam. The dam has helped refill the North Aral Sea from the runoff of the Syr Darya river, which runs into the sea from the north. The water in the North Aral has become less salty, and birds, plants, and fish have returned, helping to breathe new life into the fishing industry and provide food to the people that live near the sea.

Things are not quite as hopeful for the South Aral Sea. Micklin predicts that the eastern lobe of the South Aral (the lighter area near the middle of the photo) will dry up for good this summer if the climate remains as dry as it has been in previous years.

Published March 31, 2010

Locomotive Rock

Photograph by Philip Micklin

Locomotive Rock, seen here from the Ust-Urt Plateau on the western side of the South Aral Sea in September of 2005, used to be mostly underwater.

Before the Aral Sea receded, Kazakh fishermen would climb the rock and leave fish as an offering for a good catch, said Micklin.

Once the fourth-largest inland sea in the world, the Aral shrank to one-tenth of its original volume in a few decades after the rivers that fed it were diverted to irrigation projects. The water level of the North Aral Sea is now increasing after a dam was built to help re-capture the Syr Darya, which feeds the sea from the north.

Published March 31, 2010

Aral Sea Fisherman

Photograph by Philip Micklin

A fisherman holds part of his catch near Tastubek, on the North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan in August of 2005. He caught these pike-perch (or sudak), a highly prized fish, in a small, homemade boat and carried them on the back of his motorcycle, selling some and eating the rest, said University of Michigan's Micklin.

Fishing has returned to the North Aral Sea as fish populations increase. Fishermen caught 2,000 tons of fish in the Aral Sea in 2008, and new processing plants are being built as people begin to move back to the area.

Published March 31, 2010

Collapsing Soviet Barracks

Photograph by Philip Micklin

Barracks crumble at an old Soviet air base near Aralsk in Kazakhstan in September, 2005. The air base, important during the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s, was abandoned after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Aralsk was once a major port and railroad hub on the Aral Sea, where fish caught from the sea were sent to the rest of the then-Soviet Union. Even though the water levels of the North Aral Sea have rebounded, the waters still do not fill the harbor. A 15-mile-long (24-kilometer-long) system of locks and dams is planned to bring the water back to Aralsk harbor.

Published March 31, 2010

Mummified Fish, Aral Sea

Photograph by Philip Micklin

A mummified carp (or sazan) sits on the seabed near the former Barsekelmes Island in Kazakhstan in a photo from August 2005.

The island was a nature preserve before the sea dried up. The government still controls who can visit the area, said Micklin. When the Aral dried up, the high salt content of the soil and the dry climate mummified the fish.

After the sea shrunk, dust storms kicked up salt and pesticides left over from agricultural runoff. This toxic concoction poisoned the air, causing throat cancer and respiratory disease in some remaining residents, according to health experts studying the region.

Without a source of protein, which previously came from fish, residents became anemic and infant mortality skyrocketed to become the worst in the then-Soviet Union.

Published March 31, 2010