Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The Caspian Sea, world's largest lake washing the shores of five coastal states keeps many secrets, and not only on the bottom, but also on the surface. The Sea is a home of about 50 large and medium-sized islands with a total area of 350 square kilometers.

About 30 of them are located in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. Most of these islands are not inhabited and are not far from the coast.

For the first time in 80 years of Azerbaijan's scientific research history, scientists will conduct biological investigations on the islands of the Caspian Sea.

Elman Yusifov, Director of the Zoology Institute at the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences said the research will be conducted by the Zoology and Oil and Gas Institutes of the ANAS.

The soil formation, volcanism, fauna and flora of the archipelagic islands of Baku and Absheron Peninsula will be studied during the research.

The scientists expect to conduct researches in nine islands in the Caspian Sea, including Chilov, Kur dili, Khara Zira, Boyuk Tava, Kichik Tava and Gil.

Yusifov reminded that 80 percent of these islands are volcanic origin.

“For the first time during this project, scientists will use a drone, which will allow to monitor the area and learn the number of plants, animals and birds. So far no such research has been carried out. The fauna and flora of the islands have never been studied so far. This expedition is a great and historic event in the history of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan (ANAS),” he said.

The two-year expedition will involve 12-person expedition group including geologists, soil scientists, landscape scientists, geobotanics, and others.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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