Lake Bacalar

Lake Bacalar (or Laguna Bacalar) is a long, narrow freshwater lake in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico near Mexico's border with Belize. It is approximately 60km long measured from north to south, and 2km at its widest. It is the second largest freshwater lake in Mexico behind Lake Chapala. The lake is renowned for its striking blue color and water clarity, partly the result of having a white limestone bottom. Like most bodies of water in the Yucatán peninsula, the lake is fed by underground rivers, whose regular open pools are cenotes. Because of the porous limestone, the Yucatán Peninsula has almost no lakes, this is by far the largest, and fed by the 450 km underground river that is part of the worlds's largest water cave/tunnel system, paralleling the coast.

Laguna Bacalar
View over the lake
Laguna Bacalar
Location	Quintana Roo
Coordinates	18.750°N 88.315°W / 18.750; -88.315
Type	Natural lake
Primary inflows	(subterranean)
Primary outflows	Mangrove surrounded river into the Rio Hondo
Basin countries	Mexico
Max. length	60 km (37 mi) (north–south)
Average depth	15–18 m (49–59 ft)
Max. depth	55 m (180 ft) (in Cenote Negro)
Surface elevation	4 m (13 ft)
Islands	more than 2
Settlements	Bacalar

It contains a huge population of the oldest life on the planet, the cauliflower-like stromatolites that only still exist in a few locations globally.^[1] On the lake's western shore is the village of Bacalar, population 11,084.

In November 2015, Mexico's federal environmental protection agency issued a pollution alert for Lake Bacalar as a result of illegal dumping and inadequate wastewater treatment.^[2]

References

1. "The stromatolites of Bacalar". Magic Bacalar. October 13, 2015. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
2. "Mexico's Bacalar lagoon polluted by local wastewater". TBN Americas. October 17, 2017. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.