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‎Ecology

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{{About|the island group in the Caspian Sea|other similarly named islands|Tyuleny Island (disambiguation){{!}}Tyuleny Island}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Tyuleniy Archipelago
| local name = {{lang-kk|Түлен аралдары}}
| native name =
| image name = Tyuleni-ostrova2.png|thumb
| image caption = Islands of the Tyuleniy Archipelago
| image size =
| map = Caspian5TYU2.png
| map_caption = Location of the Tyuleniy Archipelago in the Caspian Sea.
| nickname =
| location = [[Caspian Sea]],
| coordinates = {{coord|44|55|N|50|22|E|region:RU_type:isle_source:ruwiki}}
| archipelago =
| total islands =
| major islands =
| area_km2 = 130
| length_km =
| width_km =
| highest mount =
| elevation_m = 2
| population = 5
| population as of =
| density_km2 =
| ethnic groups =
| country = [[Kazakhstan]]
| country admin divisions title = [[Regions of Kazakhstan|Region]]
| country admin divisions = [[Mangystau Region]]
| country admin divisions title 1 =
| country admin divisions 1 =
| additional info =
}}
The '''Tyuleniy Archipelago''', {{lang-kk|Түлен аралдары}} ''Tülen Araldary'', {{lang-ru|Тюленьи острова}} is an island group in the north-eastern [[Caspian Sea]] located off the [[Mangyshlak Bay]] west of the [[Mangyshlak Peninsula]] and about {{convert|13|km|mi|abbr=off}} NW of the Tupkaragan Peninsula, {{convert|27|km|mi|abbr=off}} north of [[Fort-Shevchenko|Bautino]]. Perhaps the most substantial group of islands in the Caspian, they were first accurately cartographed by [[Fedor Ivanovich Soimonov]] who led the [[1719 Caspian Expedition]], studying the Caspian Sea from 1719 to 1727.<ref>Igor S. Zonn, Aleksey N Kosarev, Michael H. Glantz & Andrey G. Kostianoy, ''The Caspian Sea Encyclopedia''</ref>

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.<ref>[https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=44.98367,50.008526&spn=0.002705,0.005547&t=h&z=18 Structures on Kulaly Island]</ref>
*'''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.<ref>[http://land.worldcitydb.com/ostrov_podgornyy_3234178.html Podgornyy Island]</ref>
*'''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.<ref>[[GoogleEarth]]</ref>

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

The islands have been declared an [[Important Bird Area|IBA]] and a National Protected Zone (State Reservation). There are large concentrations of [[seagull]]s and wetland birds, like [[Eurasian coot|coots]], [[ducks|wild ducks]], [[swan]]s, [[egret]]s and [[wader]]s, in the archipelago during their nesting period. The Tyuleniy island group is also an important breeding ground for the [[Sandwich tern]] (''Sterna sandvicensis'').
{|
|- valign="top"
|[[File:Тюленьи острова.jpg|thumb|260px|[[NASA]] image of the archipelago and nearby shores. Note the size of Novyy Island.]]
|[[File:1730 Van Verden Map of the Caspian Sea - Geographicus - CaspienSea-vanverden-1721.jpg|thumb|200px|1721 [[Van Verden]] map of the Caspian Sea in which Kulaly is the only island of the archipelago that is named.]]
|[[File:KZ034 02.jpg|thumb|270px|The archipelago is named after the [[Caspian seal]] ''(Pusa caspica)'']]
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://land.worldcitydb.com/tuledi_araldary_426151.html Geographic data]
*[http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=21941&m=0 Birdlife]
*[http://www.zin.ru/projects/caspdiv/biodiversity_report.html Caspian Sea Biodiversity Project]
*{{cite rowlett|kaz}}

{{Caspian Sea Islands}}

[[Category:Archipelagoes of Asia]]
[[Category:Seabird colonies]]
[[Category:Islands of the Caspian Sea]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas]]
[[Category:Lake islands of Kazakhstan]]

{{Kazakhstan-geo-stub}}

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