Lake Bohinj

Lake Bohinj
Location	Municipality of Bohinj, Triglav National Park
Coordinates	46°16′56.31″N 13°51′29.6″E / 46.2823083°N 13.858222°ECoordinates: 46°16′56.31″N 13°51′29.6″E / 46.2823083°N 13.858222°E
Type	Glacial lake
Primary inflows	Savica
Primary outflows	Sava Bohinjka
Catchment area	107 km^2 (41 sq mi)
Basin countries	Slovenia
Max. length	4.35 km (2.70 mi)
Max. width	1 km (0.62 mi)
Surface area	3.18 km^2 (1.23 sq mi)
Average depth	30 m (98 ft)
Max. depth	45 m (148 ft)
Water volume	99,700,000 m3
Residence time	0.3 to 0.5 years [1]
Surface elevation	526 m (1,726 ft)
References	[1]

Lake Bohinj (Slovene: Bohinjsko jezero, German: Wocheiner See), covering 318 hectares (790 acres), is the largest permanent lake in Slovenia.^{[2][notes 1]} It is located within the Bohinj Valley of the Julian Alps, in the northwestern Upper Carniola region, and part of Triglav National Park.

Geography

Lake Bohinj is 4.2 km (2.6 mi) long and 1 km (0.62 mi) at its maximum width.^[3] It is a glacial lake dammed by a moraine.

Passenger tourboat on Lake Bohinj

The largest of the streams that flow into the lake, the Savica ('little Sava'),^[4] is fed from Črno jezero (Black Lake), the lowest-lying lake in the Triglav Lakes Valley. The outflow at the eastern end is the Jezernica creek which merges with the Mostnica to form the Sava Bohinjka, which in turn becomes the larger Sava River at the confluence with the Sava Dolinka. As found out already by Belsazar Hacquet in the 18th century, much more water leaves Lake Bohinj than enters it, which is explained with subterranean sources of water.

The clear waters are the habitat of brown trout, burbot, European chub, common minnow and Arctic char, eight genera of molluscs, as well as of numerous algae species. It is a popular day trippers' destination for swimming and other water sports. On the shore is a statue of the legendary Goldhorn (Zlatorog) chamois, whose story was perpetuated by the poet Rudolf Baumbach.

Notes

1. Lake Cerknica, an intermittent lake, is larger than Lake Bohinj during its flood seasons, but disappears entirely during dry seasons.

References

1. Lake Bohinj in "Alpine lakes. Survey between land and water" (PDF). (52.1 MB) , page 43
2. Hlad, Branka. Skoberne, Peter, eds. (2001). "Characteristics of Biological and Landscape Diversity in Slovenia". Biological and Landscape Diversity in Slovenia: An Overview (PDF). Ljubljana: Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning. p. 13. ISBN 961-6324-17-9.
3. Royal Geographical Society (1856) "Wocheiner-See" A Gazetteer of the World: or, Dictionary of geographical knowledge, compiled from the most recent authorities, and forming a complete body of modern geography -- physical, political, statistical, historical, and ethnographical A. Fullarton, Edinburgh, Scotland, p. 529, OCLC 20348227; note that Lake Bohinj was formerly known in English by its German name Wocheiner See, or sometimes Lake Wochein.
4. Baedeker, Karl (1879) "Terglou: The Valley of the Wocheiner Save" The Eastern Alps: Including the Bavarian Highlands, the Tyrol, Salzkammergut, Styria, and Carinthia (4th ed.) Dulau and Co., London, p. 353, OCLC 4018143

External links

• Lake Bohinj web cam
• Lake Bohinj 1920x1080 photos