It's March at Lake Baikal. A small convoy carefully makes its way across the frozen lake, through a bizarre landscape of ice and snow. Just two days ago, a truck with its entire load broke through the ice, even though it's a meter thick at this time of year. Expedition leader Igor Khanayev, a biologist at the Limnological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, wants to examine the health of the Baikal omul, a native whitefish species. According to current studies, the estimated 1.5 million omules in Lake Baikal are not endangered. They live at great depths, and the lake's self-purifying capacity, thanks to coral-like sponges found only here, guarantees their survival. Fishermen around the lake catch the omul for their own consumption; this fish can only be bought in the region's markets—a hidden gem for visitors from all over Russia. The fish doesn't make the people of Lake Baikal rich, but they can't imagine life without "their" Lake Baikal and "their" omul.
