On the territory of the South Kamchatka Nature Reserve, the brand of which is Kuril Lake, there are many mountain lakes, information about which is either little or not at all. One of them is Lake Ulyanovsk (on the latest version of the official physical map – Vitamin Lake).
Lake Ulyanovsk is one of the lakes located in the spurs of the active Wild Ridge volcano at an altitude of about 200 m above sea level, it enters the Ozernaya River basin, connecting with it by the Ulyana River. The latter is rich in rapids and waterfalls.
In 1997-2000, Ekaterina Lepskaya, a hydrobiologist at KamchatNIRO, collected samples of water and plankton from the lake from a seaplane. Ulyanovsk. Data from the processing of these samples showed an increased content of sulfur and alkaline earth metals in the water, compared with Kuril Lake, and a composition of crustaceans and rotifers in plankton, which is standard for most Kamchatka lakes (Bonk, 2001). According to local residents, a char lives in the lake. But at that time, it was not possible to see or catch him.
More than 20 years have passed since then. The expedition to Lake Ulyanovsk on September 23, 2023 allowed collecting water samples for hydrochemical analysis, samples of plankton and benthos, detecting clusters of cyanoprokaryotes with an unusual "oil film" effect, and for the first time seeing and conducting a biological analysis of the Ulyanovsk char. Samples were also collected for subsequent analysis of fish nutrition. For the first time, Potamogeton praelongus (the longest one), a representative of the highest aquatic vegetation, is indicated for the South Kamchatka Reserve.
We thank Anatoly Petrovich Kalenberg, the inspirer and organizer of the expedition, for the opportunity to conduct research on a remote lake. Special thanks to the high-class crew of the Russian Air Force helicopter and the wonderful RGO team.
VNIRO Press Service
