It is an ecosystem with many names. It has been called "Darwin's dreampond" because it holds a population of the tropical cichlids fish that has shown immense signs of evolution and adaptation over the past 12,000 years. Some may call it, "the ultimate biology project." It, unfortunately, has even been called "the sick giant" as of late, because of the increasing number of pollutants and other factors that threaten its well-being. Central Africa's Lake Victoria has a huge impact on the region in which its located. The countries surrounding the lake depend on it for commerce, food, and clean drinking water. This paper will discuss the biological issues facing Lake Victoria. These issues include what role evolution has played on the Cichlidae family of fish, what factors are contributing to the declining health of the lake, how those factors are affecting the inhabitants of the lake, and what steps are being taken to ensure that pollution and overgrowth are kept to a minimum.Lake Victoria rests between the countries of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. It was first found by the British Explorer John Speke in 1858. Lake Victoria is the world's largest tropical lake, and second largest freshwater lake, behind Lake Superior. The lake's size is comparable to the island of Ireland, covering 69,000 square kilometers. It lies in the rift valley system, which is a 3,500 mile stretch of cracks that run deep in the earth's crust that begins at the Red Sea and stretches south to Mozambique, but the lake itself is not actually part of this system (www.jambokenya.com). In its present state, Lake Victoria stretches nearly 69,000 square kilometers, and at its deepest point, is 69 meters. This is a relatively shallow lake for the amount of area that it covers. In contrast, Lake Superior. Recent studies have given evidence that the lake was 65 meters deeper at some point in time between 15,000 and 17,000 years ago (Coleman, 1999). These studies hav...
