Photograph: The lakeshore on an ordinary morning · Köyceğiz · M.Barış Ak, courtesy of the photographer
Köyceğiz empties its fresh water into the sea through the Dalyan Channel — and takes salt water back in return. Locally this is called an ayaklı göl, a lake with a foot; the account told here is that seven exist in the world and this is the only one in Türkiye. The same regime feeds the lake's white water lilies, which nobody monitors on any regular basis. The town, founded in 1860, grew on this water too — weir fishing, citrus, boats. The contents of this case are still held in living memory. The same system carries two turtles, but in different places: the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) does not nest in the lake but on Dalyan-İztuzu Beach, where the channel meets the sea — 770 nests in the 2025 season (164 per km), 56,067 eggs and 38,644 hatchlings, a 67% emergence success. The lake and channel's own species is the Nile soft-shelled turtle (Trionyx triunguis): 13 tracks and 3 nests were recorded in 2025, and all three nests were lost entirely to foxes.15