Lake Baikal is a freshwater lake, more than 2,000 kilometers away from the ocean, why is there a large number of marine life

If we open the world map and start from Inner Mongolia and cross the vast Mongolian desert in the north to the south of Eastern Siberia, we will find a lake in the shape of a crescent moon. This is Lake Baikal. It is the largest and deepest freshwater lake in the world.

The entire lake of Lake Baikal is 636 kilometers long, with an average width of 48 kilometers, an area of ​​31,500 square kilometers, and a deepest point of 1,637 meters. The total water volume of Lake Baikal is 23.6 trillion cubic meters, accounting for 20% of the world's freshwater resources, making it the lake with the largest freshwater reserves in the world.

The amazing part of Lake Baikal is not only the abundance of fresh water, but also some of the creatures we think are only found in the ocean. Such as seals, sharks, etc. This is strange, the seals and sharks we know are typical marine animals, but Lake Baikal is a freshwater lake and is almost 2000 kilometers away from the Arctic Ocean. Why are there marine life here?

Why are there marine life in Lake Baikal?

There are many explanations, which means that the real reason is still a mystery. There is a saying that the Baikal region was originally a vast ocean called the Baikal Sea. About 20 million to 2500 years ago, due to the movement of the earth's crust, the land rose and the Baikal Sea disappeared, leaving only Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal was a saltwater lake when it formed. Marine animals left behind on Lake Baikal continue to live here. Later, due to the infusion of surrounding rivers and precipitation, Lake Baikal gradually became a freshwater lake. The marine animals that originally stayed in the lake gradually adapted to the freshwater environment and became freshwater animals.

However, some data prove that the Baikal region has been land for a long time. It is a fault lake formed by the rupture of the crust, not the remains of an ancient ocean.

How did the seals in Lake Baikal come to be? Why are there seals in Lake Baikal? Now the scientific community generally believes that Baikal seals may come from the Arctic Ocean. They migrated upstream of the Yenisei River to Lake Baikal. Because scientists have found that the Baikal seal is the closest relative to the ringed seal in the Arctic Ocean.

In fact, whether it is seals or sharks, since Lake Baikal can provide them with sufficient living space, they are happy to live here.