Pulicat Bird Sanctuary

Pulicat Lake (Tamil: Pazhaverkaadu Eri பழவேற்காடு ஏரி, Telugu: Pulicat Sarassu పులికాట్ సరస్సు ) is the second largest brackish – water lake or lagoon in India, after Chilika Lake. It straddles the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states on the Coromandal Coast in South India. The lake encompasses the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary. The barrier island of Sriharikota separates the lake from the Bay of Bengal. The island is home to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.[1]

The lagoon’s boundary limits range between 13.33° to 13.66° N and 80.23° to 80.25°E, with a dried part of the lagoon extending up to 14.0°N.; with about 84% of the lagoon in Andhra Pradesh and 16% in Tamil Nadu. The lagoon is aligned parallel to the coast line with its western and eastern parts covered with sand ridges. Area of the lake varies with the tide; 450 square kilometres (170 sq mi) in high tide and 250 square kilometres (97 sq mi) in low tide. Its length is about 60 kilometres (37 mi) with width varying from 0.2 kilometres (0.12 mi) to 17.5 kilometres (10.9 mi).

Climate of the lagoon coast line is dominated by Tropical monsoons. Air temperature varies from 15 °C (59 °F) to 45 °C (113 °F).[10]

The large spindle-shaped barrier island named Sriharikota separates the lake from the Bay of Bengal. The Satish Dhawan Space Centre, located on the north end of the island.[1] is the launch site of India's successful first lunar space mission, the Chandrayaan-1.[11]

The sandy barrier islands of Irkam and Venad and smaller islands in the north are aligned north–south and divide the lagoon into eastern and western sectors. The morphology of the lagoons is categorized under four types with large areas under mudflats and sandflats.[9][10]

The fishing village of Pulicat is at the south end of the lake. [10][12] Dugarājupatnam and Sullurpeta are two important towns on the periphery of the lagoon.[13]