Tanzania’s Lake Natron is not your average lake. Imagine a vast shimmering pink and red body of water so caustic that it burns your skin and eyes. It’s rumored to turn animals into stone (though that’s not quite true). I’s both beautiful and creepy.
Lake Natron’s eerie characteristics
Lake Natron, nestled in the Great Rift Valley, is a salt lake. It gets its name from natron, a naturally occurring mixture of sodium carbonate decahydrate and around 17% sodium bicarbonate. Add in some salt and mineral impurities, and you have a lake with a pH as high as 10.5. That’s incredibly alkaline.
With these numbers, you might think nothing could survive here. But you’d be wrong. Three species of fish, Alcolapia alcalica, Alcolapia latilabris, and Alcolapia ndalalani, call this caustic lake home. These hardy creatures adapted to Lake Natron’s harsh conditions and live quite happily in its waters.
The myth of Lake Natron
In stark contrast to its resident fishes, the lake has been accused of turning birds and other animals into statues. You heard that right – stone statues. But before you jump to a petrifying conclusion, let’s debunk that myth.
Photographer Nick Brandt published a series of hauntingly beautiful images of calcified animals along Lake Natron’s shores, triggering rumors that its water could turn creatures to stone. But the reality is less fantastical and more scientific.
The animals, likely dead before they touched Natron’s waters, were preserved by its alkalinity. Similar to how ancient Egyptians used natron to mummify bodies, the lake’s water can preserve and give a stony appearance to those unfortunate creatures that end up in its depths. But instant petrification? That’s a myth.
However, that doesn’t mean Lake Natron is all welcoming. With temperatures that can reach up to 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit), it’s inhospitable for many species. Touching the water could cause burns, especially to the eyes and skin of unadapted animals and humans. So while it’s not turning beings to stone, it’s not exactly a friendly dip.
Flamingo’s love it!
Yet, despite its harshness, Lake Natron is the chosen breeding ground for more than 2.5 million Lesser Flamingos. The lake’s extreme conditions keep the flamingos safe from predators, while the algae thriving in the salty water serve as a rich food source.
The juxtaposition between Lake Natron’s beauty and harshness is stark. For this reason, it it’s a magnet for both tourists and scientists alike. Its eeriness, the ghostly images of life arrested in time, is a fascinating aspect of its lure. But there’s more to this lake than meets the eye.
Lake Natron is an excellent reminder of how nature is full of surprises and adaptations. Its unique ecosystem underscores the balance between life and death, showcasing how even in the harshest conditions, life finds a way to not just survive, but thrive.
The truth about Lake Natron is far more interesting than myths.
Source: “Lake Natron: Deadly to Most Life, but the Flamingos Love It” — Explorer’s Web
