Tyuleniy Archipelago (Kazakhstan)

This article is about the island group in the Caspian Sea. For other similarly named islands, see Tyuleny Island.

Tyuleniy Archipelago

Kazakh: Түлен аралдары
File:Tyuleni-ostrova2.png Islands of the Tyuleniy Archipelago
File:Caspian5TYU2.png Location of the Tyuleniy Archipelago in the Caspian Sea.
Geography
Location	Caspian Sea,
Coordinates
Area
Highest elevation	2 m (7 ft)
Country
Kazakhstan
Region	Mangystau Region
Demographics
Population	5

The Tyuleniy Archipelago, Kazakh: Түлен аралдары Tülen Araldary, Russian: Тюленьи острова is an island group in the northeastern Caspian Sea, located west of the Mangyshlak Peninsula and about 13 km NW of the Tupkaragan Peninsula, 27 km north of Bautino.

Administratively, the Tyuleniy Archipelago belongs to the Mangystau Region of Kazakhstan.

Islands

• Kulaly Island (Kulaly-Aral) is the westernmost and longest island, stretching 25 km from tip to tip. Its shape is slightly irregular, with inlets and headlands. There is a meteorological station with a lighthouse and a Kazakh border guard post on this island, making it the only one in the group inhabited by man. The terrain on Kulaly is either arid or waterlogged and reed-covered.
• Morskoy Island (Morskoy Aral) is the next island and the second largest island. It is also the biggest in area, with a length of 19 km and a maximum width of 7 km. This island consists mostly of wetland.
• Rybachy Island (formerly Ostrov Svyatoy) is long and narrow and is located south of Morskoy.
• Podgornyy Island is located NE of Rybachy.
• Novyy Island is the easternmost island. It is located between Podgorny and the mainland and used to have an irregular shape until about 2009. Recent pictures show that this island has eroded heavily.

Ecology

The islands are desert-like and sandy, with little grass. There are reeds on the leeward side of Kulaly as well as on the other islands, which are much lower and waterlogged. Many Caspian seals come to the islands' shores, hence their name "Tyuleniy", which means "seal".

The islands have been declared an IBA and a National Protected Zone (State Reservation). There are large concentrations of seagulls and wetland birds, like coots, wild ducks, swans, egrets and waders, in the archipelago during their nesting period. The Tyuleniy island group is also an important breeding ground for the Sandwich tern (Sterna sandvicensis).

File:Тюленьи острова.jpg NASA picture of the archipelago and the nearby shores. Note the size of Novyy Island.

External links

• Geographic data
• Birdlife
• Caspian Sea Biodiversity Project