Lake Alexandrina in South Australia. Australia. Water birds.
Lake Alexandrina is a lake in South Australia adjacent to the coast of the Southern Ocean, about 100 kilometres south-east of Adelaide. It adjoins the smaller Lake Albert; together they are known as the Lower Lakes. The lake was named after Princess Alexandrina, niece and successor of King William IV of Great Britain and Ireland. When the princess ascended the throne and took the name Queen Victoria there was some talk of changing the name of the lake to Lake Victoria, but the idea was dropped. Lake Alexandrina is located north of Encounter Bay and east of Fleurieu Peninsula. The Murray River is the major river to flow into Lake Alexandrina. Others include the Bremer, Angas, and Finniss Rivers, all from the eastern side of the southern Mount Lofty Ranges. The lake is shallow and contains a number of islands near the southern end. The lake empties into the sea near Goolwa (the channel is known as the Murray Mouth), but when the river flow is low the entrance is often blocked by a sand-bar. Originally subjected to tidal and storm inflows of seawater the lake is now maintained as fresh water by a series of barrages across the islands near the Murray Mouth. Though connected to the ocean historically the fresh and salt water flows mixed very little, with the lake area remaining fresh over 95% of the time with normal river inflow. Salt water inflows from the ocean would result in relatively little mixing of fresh and salt water, either vertically in the water column or laterally across the flow stream. Hindmarsh Island is reputed to be the largest island in the world with salt water on one side and fresh water on the other. Lake Alexandrina is connected by a narrow channel to the smaller Lake Albert to the south-east. In the Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime the lake was inhabited by a monster known as the Muldjewangk. Edward Wilson, visiting the lake in the 1850s described it as follows:"Lake Alexandrina is the finest sheet of fresh water I ever saw.
Size: 5000px × 3347px
Location: Milang, South Australia, Australia
Photo credit: © Alexander Kondakov / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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