Lake Albert

Lake Albert, originally known as Lake Mwitanzige and temporarily Lake Mobutu Sese Seko, is a lake located in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is Africas seventh-largest lake, as well as the second biggest of Ugandas Great Lakes.

Geography
Lake Albert is located in the center of the African continent, on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the northernmost of the chain of lakes in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift.

It is about 160 kilometres (99 mi) long and 30 kilometres (19 mi) wide, with a maximum depth of 51 metres (167 ft), and a surface elevation of 619 metres (2,031 ft) above sea level.

Lake Albert is part of the complicated system of the upper Nile. Its main sources are the White Nile, ultimately coming from Lake Victoria to the southeast, and the Semliki River, which issues from Lake Edward to the southwest. The water of the Victoria Nile is much less saline than that of Lake Albert.

The lakes outlet, at its northernmost tip, is the Albert Nile section of the White Nile. The river later becomes known as the Mountain Nile when its course enters South Sudan.

At the southern end of the lake, where the Semliki comes in, there are swamps. The Rwenzori Mountains are to the south of the lake and to the northwest, the Blue Mountains. The few settlements along the shore include Butiaba and Pakwach.

Water characteristics
Unlike the very deep Lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu, Lake Alberts water temperature is relatively stable throughout, typically around 27–29 °C (81–84 °F), and even its deeper sections contain oxygen.

The water has a pH of around or just below 9 and an electric conductivity of around 720–780 μS/cm. These are both very high for a freshwater lake but nevertheless lower than Lake Edward.

Animals
Lake Albert is home to many aquatic and semi-aquatic animals like hippopotamuses, Uganda kob antelopes, Nile crocodiles, Nile monitors, African softshell turtles, Central African mud turtles, Williams mud turtles, various semi-aquatic snakes and various frogs. Water birds are numerous and include pelicans, herons and the rare shoebill.

Fish and fishing
There are 55 fish species in Lake Albert. Except for Nile crocodiles, the largest predators in the lake are the Nile perch (native, unlike in other Rift Valley lakes where introduced and invasive), elongate tigerfish, African tigerfish, marbled lungfish, cornish jack, Bagrus docmak, African sharptooth catfish and vundu catfish. Others that support important fisheries are Nile tilapia, Niger barb, Albert lates, electric catfish and giraffe catfish that are caught by standard fishing methods, and the small Brycinus nurse and Engraulicypris bredoi that mainly are caught by light fishing. As much as 30% of the fish production in Uganda is from Lake Albert.

Lake Albert has fewer endemics than the other African Great Lakes. Although the Albert Nile–the section of the Nile that leaves Lake Albert—has several rapids in the Nimule region, these have not effectively isolated the lake from the main Nile sections. In contrast, Lake Edward (and ultimately Lake George) is effectively isolated from Lake Albert by the rapids on the Semliki River, while Lake Kyoga (and ultimately Lake Victoria) is effectively isolated from Lake Albert by the Murchison Falls on the Victoria Nile. As a consequence, most of Lake Alberts fish are widespread riverine species also found in the main Nile sections. There are few haplochromine cichlids; a group that is very diverse in other Rift Valley lakes. Of the six haplochromines in Lake Albert, four are endemic (Haplochromis albertianus, H. avium, H. bullatus and H. mahagiensis) and two are also found in the Nile (H. loati and Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor). In comparison, most of the more than 60 haplochromines in Lake Edward–George and most of the roughly 600 haplochromines in Lake Victoria–Kyoga are endemic. The only other endemic fish species in Lake Albert are the small cyprinid Engraulicypris bredoi and the endangered Albert lates.