Lake Tyrrell

Lake Tyrrell is a shallow, salt-crusted depression located in the Mallee district of north-west Victoria, in Australia. The word is derived from the local Wergaia word for 'sky', the Boolong clan of the area being distinguished for their interest in star-lore.Location and featuresThe lake covers approximately, making it Victoria's largest salt lake. It is located north of the town of Sea Lake and northwest of Melbourne.While much of the time the lake is dry, it is usually covered in about of water in winter. It is ancient and probably formed by sand blocking the passage of Tyrrell Creek (a distributary of the Avoca River) which feeds the lake. Evaporation results in a layer of salt crusting on the lake bed which is harvested by Cheetham Salt in Sea Lake.The lake environment is host to Mallee reptiles, kangaroos, emus and white-faced chats. Thousands of seagulls breed on small islands on the lake. Surrounding vegetation is made up of saltbush and samphire.