The Aral Sea, October, 2021 44°52’46.3″N 58°11’29.3″E


The Aral Sea used to be the 4th largest freshwater lake in the world. There is not a lot left and is, is so salty only a certain species of tiny shrimp actually live, allegedly (I did not see any). What’s left starkly beautiful, if tragic. In some ways it reminded me of the Etosha Pan, which will even more closely resemble as the years go by.

I walked into the sea and promptly sunk several inches into the mud.
I took this with a fisheye lens, hence the distortion, trying to capture the enormous emptiness of the place was hard.
If you squint you can see the yurt camp where we stayed.
Less than 40 years ago, this entire bay was filled with water.
The sunrise was stunning.
Moments before, even more so.

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