__NOTOC__ Tylihul (or Tyligul) Estuary also called Tiligulskiy liman (or Tylihul'skyi liman as

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

from uk, Тилігульський лиман, russian: Тилигульский лиман) or simply Tiligul is a

Ramsar Ramsar may refer to: * Places so named: ** Ramsar, Mazandaran, city in Iran ** Ramsar, Rajasthan, village in India * Eponyms of the Iranian city: ** Ramsar Convention concerning wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran ** Ramsar site, wetland listed in ...

listed government protected

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

or liman of the Tylihul River. Located in

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administr ...

in the south of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, the estuary includes an ornithological

Game Reserve A game reserve (also known as a wildlife preserve or a game park) is a large area of land where wild animals live safely or are hunted in a controlled way for sport. If hunting is prohibited, a game reserve may be considered a nature reserve; ...

and the Tylihulskyi Regional Landscape Park situated on the East coast. The name of the water body originates from the tr, Deli Göl, meaning "mad, rabid lake".

Geography

Tylihul is one of the purest estuaries (brackish lagoons) on the northwest coast of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

, although there are some ecological concerns related to the existence of the bottom ammoniac tube and due to intensive fertilizing of the surrounding agricultural fields. The

has a length 80 km, width 0.2–3.5 km, and a depth up to 19 m. The isolation of the estuary from the

occurred in the 18th to 19th centuries. Now it is isolated from the sea by a 7-km long and 4-km wide

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

. The shoal is covered by

solonchak Solonchak (Russian and Ukrainian: Солончак) is a Reference Soil Group of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB). It is a pale or grey soil type found in arid to subhumid, poorly drained conditions. The word is Russian for "sal ...

s and small

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 ...

s. The estuary has periodical connections with the

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

via a narrow

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

. Due to the canal the water level in the estuary is the same as in the

. On the shoal of the estuary and on the nearby water area, the

ornithological Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

Tylihulsky Peresyp is located. Until the end of the 1960s the estuary consisted of almost fresh water, while by the 1970s it was taking more and more salinity from the Black Sea, changing its flora and fauna gradually. Tylihul valley creates the number of so-called valley winds, as at summer time the sea breeze winds may go much further into the continent. The local winds are usually much stronger here.

Flora and fauna

Phytoplankton

In total, 118

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

and taxa of

microalgae Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellular species which exist indiv ...

are registered in the Tylihul Estuary: Diatom algae – 51 species,

Dinophyta The dinoflagellates (Greek δῖνος ''dinos'' "whirling" and Latin ''flagellum'' "whip, scourge") are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered algae. Dinoflagellates are ...

– 31 species,

Chlorophyta Chlorophyta or Prasinophyta is a taxon of green algae informally called chlorophytes. The name is used in two very different senses, so care is needed to determine the use by a particular author. In older classification systems, it refers to ...

– 13 species,

Chrysophyta Chrysophyta or golden algae is a term used to refer to certain heterokonts. It can be used to refer to: * Chrysophyceae (golden algae), Bacillariophyceae (diatoms), and Xanthophyceae (yellow-green algae) together. E.g., Pascher (1914). * Chrysoph ...

– 8 species,

Cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...

– 7 species,

Cryptophyta The cryptophyceae are a class of algae, most of which have plastids. About 220 species are known, and they are common in freshwater, and also occur in marine and brackish habitats. Each cell is around 10–50 μm in size and flattened in shape, ...

– 6 species,

Euglenophyta Euglenids (euglenoids, or euglenophytes, formally Euglenida/Euglenoida, ICZN, or Euglenophyceae, ICBN) are one of the best-known groups of flagellates, which are excavate eukaryotes of the phylum Euglenophyta and their cell structure is typic ...

– 2 species.

Zooplankton

There are 20 taxa of

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

are registered in the estuary at this time. Most numerous are

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

s '' Acartia clausi'' and '' Calanipeda aqua-dulcis''.

Fish

63 species of fish have been listed for the water body, including 7

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

. Common commercial fish in the estuary are

gobies Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than in length, and the ...

, sand-smelt, and

Black Sea sprat The Black Sea sprat, ''Clupeonella cultriventris'', is a small fish of the herring family, Clupeidae. It is found in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov and rivers of its basins: Danube, Dnister, Dnipro (Ukraine), Southern Bug, Don, Kuban. It has ...

. Until 1979 fish such as

roach Roach may refer to: Animals * Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea * Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae ** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes * California roach ...

zander The zander (''Sander lucioperca''), sander or pikeperch, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Percidae, which includes the perches, ruffes and darters. It is found in freshwater and brackish habitats in western Eurasia. It is a popul ...

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have ...

were numerous and caught for fishing. Now, fishing in the estuary consists of haarder, which comes from the sea through the canal, and also sand-smelt and gobies. File:Atherina boyeri 1.jpg, ''

Atherina boyeri The big-scale sand smelt (''Atherina boyeri'') is a species of fish in the family Atherinidae. It is a euryhaline amphidromous fish, up to 20 cm in length. Description It is a small pelagic fish species which occurs near the surface in the ...

'' File:Gobius niger (Stefano Guerrieri) 1.jpg, ''

Gobius niger The black goby (''Gobius niger'') is a species of ray-finned fish found in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. It inhabits estuaries, lagoons, and inshore water over seagrass and algae. It feeds on a variety of invertebrates ...

'' File:Liza haematocheilus 2.jpg, '' Planiliza haematocheilus'' File:Neogobius fluviatilis - 1.jpg, ''

Neogobius fluviatilis ''Neogobius'' is a genus of goby native to Black Sea and the Caspian Sea basins. It is part of the broader Benthophilinae subfamily which is also endemic to the same region. Nevertheless, two ''Neogobius'' species have recently turned out to be h ...

'' File:A large neogobius melanostomus.jpg, ''

Neogobius melanostomus The round goby (''Neogobius melanostomus'') is a fish. Defined as a euryhaline bottom-dwelling goby of the family Gobiidae, it is native to Central Eurasia, including the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Round gobies have established large non-na ...

'' File:Platichthys flesus Vääna-Jõesuu in Estonia.jpg, '' Platichthys flesus'' File:Pomatoschistus marmoratus 1.JPG, ''

Pomatoschistus marmoratus ''Pomatoschistus marmoratus'', the marbled goby, is a species of goby native to the eastern Atlantic from the Bay of Biscay down around the Iberian Peninsula through the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It is also found in th ...

'' File:Ukrainian stickleback (Pungitius platygaster).jpg, '' Pungitius platygaster'' File:Symphodus ocellatus 24-05-07 (Stefano Guerrieri).jpg, '' Symphodus ocellatus'' File:Syngnathus abaster body B.jpg, '' Syngnathus abaster'' File:Syngnathus typhle 20111103 151208 0650M.JPG, ''

Syngnathus typhle The broadnosed pipefish or deepnosed pipefish (''Syngnathus typhle'') is a fish of the family Syngnathidae (seahorses and pipefishes). It is native to the Eastern Atlantic from Vardø in Norway, Baltic Sea (north to the Gulf of Finland) and the B ...

'' File:Zelenchak 1.jpg, '' Zosterisessor ophiocephalus''

Tourism and use

Touristic and commercial infrastructure on the coasts of the Tylihul estuary is not yet well developed. Even in the summer the number of tourists is relatively low, though numerous private houses (

dacha A dacha ( rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ') or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbu ...

s) were built on the western coast of the estuary in the 1980s and 1990s. The bottom of the estuary is covered by black therapeutic

mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

, or

peloid Peloid is mud, or clay used therapeutically, as part of balneotherapy, or therapeutic bathing. Peloids consist of humus and minerals formed over many years by geological and biological, chemical and physical processes. Numerous peloids are av ...

, which is used for medicinal purposes. The estimated volume of the peloid is about 14 million tons. On the west coast of the Tylihul Estuary is a village Petrivka, previously Pokrovske, where the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

of Ivan Kuris is located. The estuary of Tylihul (Tiligul) is well-suited for many out-door activities, such as kitesurfing and

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

, annual international competitions are held on the east coast.

Mountain-biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

is also popular, and "Kalinovka" (informally called by locals "the Jug"), located in the Gulf of Kairy is the most popular

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'po ...

site in Southern Ukraine and Odesa Oblast.Odesa Paragliding Club
/ref>

Notes and references

References

* Starushenko L.I., Bushuyev S.G. (2001) ''Prichernomorskiye limany Odeschiny i ih rybohoziaystvennoye znacheniye''. Astroprint, Odessa, 151 pp. (in Russian) * ''North-western Black Sea: biology and ecology'', Eds.: Y.P. Zaitsev, B.G. Aleksandrov, G.G. Minicheva, Naukova Dumka, Kiev, 2006, 701 pp.

External links

General view

Paragliding site "Kalinovka" in the Gulf of Kairy near Kalinovka

Channel connecting Tylihul estuary to the Black Sea
{{Wetlands of Ukraine Estuaries of the Black Sea Estuaries of Ukraine Ramsar sites in Ukraine Protected areas of Ukraine