Chundikkulam lagoon
The chundikkulam lagoon ( Tamil : சுண்டிக்குளம் கடல் நீரேரி Cuṇṭikkuḷam KATAL nīrēri , English : Chundikkulam Lagoon ) or Elephant Pass lagoon (Tamil: ஆனையிறவு கடல் நீரேரி Āṉaiyiṟavu KATAL nīrēri , English: Elephant Pass Lagoon ) is a lagoon in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka .
The Chundikkulam Lagoon is located between the main island and the Jaffna Peninsula . In the west, the Chundikkulam lagoon is separated from the lagoon of Jaffna by an artificially raised dam on the Elephant Pass , and in the east by a narrow spit from the Bay of Bengal . From west to east, the Chundikkulam Lagoon measures around 25 kilometers with a maximum width of only around four kilometers. The area is around 135 square kilometers.
The water of the Chundikkulam lagoon is brackish . The lagoon is overgrown with seaweed and is partly lined with mangroves . The Chundikkulam Lagoon was originally part of the Jaffna Lagoon, but it was separated from it by the construction of the road dam on the Elephant Pass. This cut off the lagoon from the tidal range , the salinity decreased, and the Chundikkulam lagoon now largely dries out during the dry season from April to September.
An area in the southeast of the lagoon has been classified as a bird sanctuary ( Chundikkulam Sanctuary ) under nature protection since 1938 . Among the species of birds that can be observed in winter, including the pink flamingo , the teal , the Pintail , the Common Teal , the Painted Stork , the black-headed ibis , the spoonbill and the coot .
Web links
- SW Kotagama, Leonard Pinto & Jayampathi L. Samarakoon: Sri Lanka. Weltlands International. Pp. 16-17. (PDF; 398 kB)
Coordinates: 9 ° 29 ′ 0 ″ N , 80 ° 30 ′ 0 ″ E