![]() Dead Lake Natron is covered with a crust of salt, which periodically turns red and pink. The water temperature in wetlands can reach 50 degrees Celsius, and depending on the water level, the alkalinity can reach a pH of 9 to 10.5. This salt lake has a shallow depth - a maximum of 3 meters, and constantly changes its coastline depending on the season and water level. This is truly a miraculous canvas of nature, painted by a local God named Lengai, the progenitor of everything on Earth among the Maasai tribes.ĭead Lake Natron is located in northern Tanzania on the border with Kenya. Only in shallow water, where these bacteria are slightly less, the water is no longer bright red, but orange. As a result, from the accumulated photons, the pigmentation of this amazing bacterium changes towards red color and millions of bacteria of the cyano species formed in the alkali of Lake Natron give a deep red color to all water surfaces. The primary such organism is the cyanobacteria, a tiny bacterium that, like plants, absorbs light through photosynthesis. Lake Natron (Lake Natron) translates as "red", because of its special color, which is given to it by some microorganisms that appear when the level of salinity and alkalinity increases excessively. How exactly these birds, bats and other animals died is not known. This alkalinity preserves these creatures for eternity. Nick Brandt writes in his new book that the petrified creatures around the lake are preserved thanks to a constant pH of 9 to 10.5. The consequences of this rare chemical phenomenon were reflected by photographer Nick Brandt in his book "On the Torn Land". A rare occurrence caused by the lake's chemical composition, which leaves behind a horror-movie-like petrified creature. On the territory of Tanzania, there is Lake Natron, the waters of which contain substances that contribute not only to the death of animals that touch the surface of the reservoir, but also to their petrification. In addition to the bones, the "salted" feathers of the dead bird have been preserved. Let’s hope his images are not a portent of what’s to become of this spectacular place.Salted flamingo skeleton on Lake Natron. From the look of Brandt’s pictures, the place is already dead. The spectacle the Lesser Flamingo puts on at Lake Natron may soon disappear. The human activity may directly drive off the skittish birds, not to mention the ways both projects might alter the ecology of the water and mud the flamingos have come to rely upon. A dam and a soda ash extraction factory will dramatically alter the ecology of the lake. Lake Natron is such an attractive mating site for flamingos because the water stays low enough to prevent nest flooding but remains high enough that there’s a barrier between predators and the conical nests the birds build. That mating ground is now under threat from industry. For the Lesser Flamingo, Lake Natron is a singular, prime breeding site. ![]() In some ways, Brandt’s photos mask the importance of Lake Natron to life in and around the body of water. Those that fall in and perish are exceptionally preserved by the salts that make the lake so unique, but the lake’s surface isn’t an aquatic equivalent of the Medusa’s gaze. And for those animals that do become interred here, animals don’t immediately die and turn to stone upon touching the lake. Lake Natron is a hotspot for beautiful life. BBC natural history unit programs and even a Disney documentary have featured the flamingos who congregate in this picturesque place. The importance of Lake Natron to the Lesser Flamingo isn’t a secret. Lake Natron is also an essential breeding ground for the Lesser Flamingo. Even though the lake is particularly warm and salty, Koerth-Baker notes, algae within the lake supports a species of tilapia adapted to the unusual conditions. And, just like the Great Salt Lake, Lake Natron is hardly lifeless.īoingBoing’s Maggie Koerth-Baker has already covered the peculiar fish that live in the alkaline waters of the strange lake. Dead pelicans, seagulls, and other birds take on a similar appearance as salt covers their bodies along the margins of the Great Salt Lake near my home. The flamingos and bats didn’t really become petrified in place, as if calcified by ominous clouds of salt-filled smog. But as Brandt himself has noted, the images are more art than science, and these pictures obscure the resiliency of life in and around the lake.Īs Brandt told New Scientist and other news sources, he collected the dead animals and posed them on their dark perches. The gloomy images make the lake look like a living museum where animals fall into the water and immediately turn to stone. If you’re a natural history fan and have been online at all this week, chances are you’ve seen photographer Nick Brandt’s stunning photos of mummified birds and bats along the shores of Tanzania’s Lake Natron.
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