Five years ago, Stas and I were lucky enough to film Baikal from the air. And here we are again. The main goal was to shoot 360 video, but of course we couldn't help but create a new virtual tour. As a teaser for the 360° film about Baikal, we are publishing a timelapse with sunsets and sunrises in ice caves.
We were lucky, the weather changed every day: we walked on the purest ice under blue skies in absolute silence and looked at the Milky Way over Olkhon, we tried to warm up in 35-degree frost and made our way to the base through a severe snowstorm... Thanks to nature for the indelible impressions during this short trip!
And now a few facts about Baikal.
The deepest lake on the planet, Baikal is one of the most famous landmarks in Russia and the world. In 1996, Baikal was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The area of the reservoir is 31,722 square kilometers (this is comparable to the area of such countries as Belgium or Denmark); the length of the coastline is 2,000 kilometers, the greatest depth is 1,642 meters. There are only three "thousanders" in the world: in addition to Baikal, these are Tanganyika in Central Africa (1,470 meters) and the Caspian Sea (1,025 meters). This row is not accidental: like the closed reservoir Caspian, which received the word "sea" in its name, Baikal is also often called a sea due to its size and significance.
Baikal is the largest natural reservoir of fresh water. 336 rivers flow into the lake, and only one flows out - the Angara. It is calculated that if water stopped flowing into Baikal, the Angara would continue to flow for another 400 years. And if you freeze all the water in Baikal, cut ice cubes of 1 cubic kilometer in volume and lay them in one row - this strip will stretch from the North to the South Pole, and about 2.5 thousand kilometers beyond the pole.
The age of Baikal is estimated at 25-35 million years, but its origin is still a matter of scientific debate. Most lakes in the world, especially those of glacial origin, live on average 10-15 thousand years, and then fill with silt sediments and become swampy. But Baikal shows no signs of "aging"; Baikal's depth does not decrease, and, moreover, its water moves the land away by about 2 centimeters per year. There is a hypothesis that Baikal is a new emerging ocean.
The lake and its shores are home to about 2,600 species and subspecies of aquatic animals; more than half of this number is found nowhere else in the world. In addition to the unique biodiversity and beauty of the surrounding landscapes, Baikal is also famous for the transparency of its water: you can see objects in it at a depth of 40 meters. Baikal water is alive - it contains the maximum amount of oxygen dissolved in it. This is due to the phytoplankton that lives in the lake and acts as a natural filter.
Despite the fact that Baikal is a lake, here, as at sea, there are quite dangerous storms, and the waves can reach 4-5 meters in height. Not a single swimmer has yet been able to cross Baikal by swimming - primarily due to the average water temperature of about +10°C. However, in terms of the number of sunny days, the Baikal region surpasses the southern regions of Russia. Thus, on Olkhon - the largest island of this lake - the sun comes out more than 300 days a year.
All these record-breaking facts, taken together, combined with the picturesque nature, put Baikal among the most outstanding sights of the world. And our shooting took place in winter, and this gives the landscape a special charm…
Video: Sergey Rumyantsev And Stanislav Sedov. Installation: Ivan Roslyakov And Nikolay Denisov.
Source: travel.ru
