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“There’s a generally positive outlook for the future, which I don’t think has been the case around the Aral Sea for a long time.”Aral native Yerken Nazarov, 31, appears to share that newly positive outlook. Water from its two river sourcesâthe Amu Darya and Syr Daryaâwas intentionally diverted for cotton cultivation. North Aral Sea – The North Aral Sea is the portion of the former Aral Sea that is fed by the Syr Darya River. (National Geographic) Use our resources to learn more about how the Aral Sea was written off for dead to begin with, and why it won’t ever fully recover.
However, the Oxus delta to the south has a long history under the name of The Aral Sea has undergone multiple phases of sea level rise and fall. Once Written Off for Dead, the Aral Sea Is Now Full of Life The Aral Sea from space, North at bottom, August 1997 Only excess water from the North Aral Sea is periodically allowed to flow into the largely dried-up South Aral Sea through a The Interstate Commission for Water Coordination of Central Asia (ICWC) was formed on 18 February 1992 to formally unite The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) was developed on 23 March 1993, by the ICWC to raise funds for the projects under Aral Sea Basin programmes. The only fish that could survive the high-salinity levels was flounder. Surprising also because, having heard for years much about the demise of the Aral Sea, it was heartening to learn that in the North Aral Sea—which is only some 10 percent of the inland seabed once a bit larger than Sri Lanka or the state of West Virginia—a reversal of decline is under way: The North Aral Sea is, slowly, coming back to life. Then three pike-perches, their silver scales shimmering as they struggled against the netâs green meshing.âHere comes the gold,â Omirserik said with a smile as he continued tugging the net.
Accessible in: Since 1960, he explained, when the commercial fishing catch exceeded 43,000 tons, the Aral Sea has lost as much as 88 percent of its surface area and 92 percent of its volume. Aldanbek Kerinov, a former taxi driver from Aralsk who started fishing full-time with his brothers seven years ago, explained that this period, well legally off limits, is considered the most bountiful because fish swim closer to the shore to lay their eggs.âEveryone usually goes late at night, because during the day, everyone is afraid the fish inspectors will come,â he said. Climate-driven shifts have contributed to these changes in sea level.Russian naval presence on the Aral Sea started in 1847, with the founding of Raimsk, which was soon renamed Fort For the navigation season of 1851, two newly built steamers arrived from Sweden, again by caravan from Orenburg. At last count it had been viewed nearly 7 million times. To take advantage of all features on this website, it is recommended that you allow all cookies.
“In 2000 there was huge unemployment, but things have gotten better,” said Adilbek Aymbetov, director of the plant.
There’s also an 1849 map of an obviously much larger Aral Sea, credited to Commander A. Butakoff of the Imperial Russian Navy, as well as a painting made in 2003 that shows, a bit nostalgically, what Aral’s port looked like in the 1960s.Remote the museum may be, but its guestbook is full of comments from Dutch, French, Spanish and American visitors. Called Toshkent Metropoliteni, or the Metro for short, it also transports passengers on a symbolic journey through Uzbek history. The concrete benches where they’d gaze out on the shore of the Aral Sea are still there, but these days there is no sea to be seen.