FAUNA OF THE CHILKA LAKE 



INTRODUCTION. 

 By N. Annandate and Stanley Kemp. 



Geography of the Lake. 



The Chilka Lake is a lagoon situated on the east coast of Peninsular India and con- 



Ta - . nected with the Bay of Bengal. Its area is about 350 sq. 



Its position and character. - 



miles ; its depth rarely exceeds two fathoms ; its water 

 undergoes great changes of salinity in the course of the year and at any one season 

 differs greatly in this respect at different places. The precise geographical situation 

 of the lake is between latitudes I9°28' and i9°54' N. and longitudes 85 °6' and 

 85°35' E. ; the greater part of it lies in the Puri District of the Province of Bihar and 

 Orissa, while one corner extends into the Ganjam District of the Madras Presidency. 

 A glance at the map (plate II) will show that the lake consists of two parts, 

 „, , - (i) an outer channel opening to the sea and (ii) what 



Its dnwsions. 



may conveniently be called the main area. 



The outer channel is peculiar in that its course is not direct from the sea to the 

 lagoon, but runs parallel to both for some miles. Its total length is about twelve miles 

 and the breadth of the outer part nowhere more than one and a quarter. The actual 

 mouth of this channel changes from time to time both in position and in breadth ; 

 in 1914 it was situated opposite the village of Arakhuda and was not more than 

 300 yards broad. Near the opening the channel turns abruptly at right angles to its 

 former course and communicates with the sea by a narrow passage several hundred 

 yards in length and apparently of no great depth. There are records that on several 

 occasions the mouth has been completely blocked up by sand carried along the coast 

 by northerly currents, especially in the south-west monsoon. 1 It has then been opened 

 artificially by digging to prevent flooding of the surrounding country. 



From the inner opening of the sea-passage the channel runs almost directly 

 south-west. On one side it is separated from the sea by a narrow sand-spit and on 

 the other from the main area of the lake by a series of comparatively broad penin- 

 sulas and islands. On reaching the apex of the Satpara peninsula the channel divides 

 into two branches, one of which continues in the original course until it becomes 

 gradually merged in a network of swamps and narrow water-ways. The broader 

 branch, however, turns at a right angle and, continuing round Satpara peninsula, 



1 The origin and diiection of the local currents on this coast are still very imperfectly known, and 

 it is probable that more than one factor plays a part in the phenomenon to which we refer. 



