Lake Lesina ( it, Lago di Lesina or ), situated in the north of
Apulia between
Tavoliere delle Puglie
300px, The Tavoliere seen from the Gargano promontory.
The Tavoliere delle Puglie (; ) is a plain in northern Apulia, southern Italy, occupying nearly a half of the Capitanata traditional region. It covers a surface of c. 3,000 km², once c ...
and the promontory of
Gargano, is the ninth largest
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and the second largest in the southern part of the country. It is brackish, about 22 km long, an average of 2.4 km wide, and covers an area of 51.4 square kilometres.
Two canals, Acquarotta and Schiapparo, link it the lake to the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
, from which it is separated by a long dune known as ''Bosco Isola'', between one and two kilometres in width and sixteen in length. Numerous streams provide the lake with a modest supply of fresh water.
The lake is very shallow with an average depth of about 70 cm and a maximum depth of less than 2 metres. Its large population of
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s provides a traditional source of income for the people of
Lesina.
Lakes of Apulia
Saline lakes of Europe
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