During the mid-20th century, the Aral Sea in Central Asia was the fourth largest lake in the world at over 26,000 square miles, ... Vozrozhdeniya, or "Rebirth Island," was a hot, ...

The 8-mile dam, which opened in 2005, allowed more water to flow into the smaller Northern Aral Sea, increasing its volume 68 percent by 2008. Almost a decade later, the Aral is returning to life.

The photos have a nostalgic and eerie quality, with those who have long been tied to the sea pictured with old boats sitting on now-dry sand. The team worked with a translator who helped get them gain ...

The Aral Sea has been dwindling for decades, but one part of the lake is now growing again. ... Kokaral Island. Kokaral had become a peninsula and then an isthmus as the water level dropped.