home Lures Pink lake in dakar why is it. Mysterious places of the planet - pink lake hiller

Pink lake in dakar why is it. Mysterious places of the planet - pink lake hiller

amazing lake Retba, which translates as " pink lake is located in the African city of Senegal. Looking at it, you might think that you have a huge sea of strawberry milkshake in front of you, which you immediately want to enjoy. However, this view is deceptive: in front of you is a salt lake, not a delicious dessert.
For many years, ordinary people have wondered why the lake has such an unusual, soft pink color. And only in our time, scientists have been able to shed light on the situation. It's all about the unicellular microscopic algae - Dunaliella (Dunaliella salina). It is found in large quantities in the lake and gives it an original pink color.

It is also unique that in Lake Retba, apart from this bacterium, there is not a single living soul - neither plants nor animals. The reason is that the reservoir is so saturated with salt that no microorganisms simply survive there. Even people cannot stay in such water for a long time: a concentrated salt solution can easily corrode the skin.

Scientists have found that the local concentration is approximately 380 grams of salt per liter of water. Surprisingly, this is 1.5 times more than in the famous Dead Sea! A person in Lake Retba is definitely not in danger of drowning. The history of the lake of the reservoir indicates that it once had access to the ocean, but over time, the current was covered with sand and the lake began to dry up gradually.

It happened around the 70s of the last century. As a result of this separation from the ocean, the water in the lake became so salty that it was no longer drinkable. This caused the people who lived near Retba to move to other places.

But at present, people who come from the Wolof tribe still live near the lake. In total, there are about three thousand people here. Near Lake Retba they not only live, but also work. Their work consists in the fact that they extract salt from the reservoir for sale. At the same time, from improvised available materials, they create huts for themselves near the lake.

They do not earn very much - only $ 9 per working day, but for an African village this is a fairly acceptable income. It can be seen from the photographs that the extraction of salt from the reservoir is a difficult task. To do this, you need to be in the water all day, which can easily corrode the skin and leave ulcers on it. To protect themselves, the workers rub the body with oil squeezed from the fruits of the tallow tree: this method allows you to protect the skin from salt for a while.

Modern salt mining on Lake Retba has been carried out since 1970. At the same time, it is actively selected from the bottom of the lake, which makes the reservoir deeper and deeper. This complicates the work of private miners. It remains to add that every year 25 thousand tons of salt are exported from here.

The process of salt extraction begins with the fact that the salt at the bottom of the reservoir is first loosened, and only then pulled out in baskets. The collected salt is loaded into boats and taken to the shore. Interestingly, due to the high concentration of salt in the water, boats can withstand the weight of large loads, for example, up to 500 kilograms. This allows the worker to swim to shore infrequently for unloading, which, of course, is convenient and profitable.

As a consequence, the salt “delivered” to the ground, women, among whom there are often very young ones, again collect in basins, clean and wash, and then carry the processed salt to their heaps. Each family has its own pile. Here the salt dries up and waits for dealers to buy it. In recent years, tourists have begun to visit Lake Retba. Although this is not the only pink lake in the world, it is still worth seeing such beauty. It fascinates with its soft pink color and can be admired for a long time. Also, if you wish, you can swim and get acquainted with the culture of the locals.

African nature is sometimes extremely amazing, so more and more tourists are striving to get to this continent.

Another miracle is the Pink Lake Retba, located near the capital of Senegal. From Cape Verde, you should head northeast to get to this place.

The reservoir got its name because of the unusual and amazing color, which is actually pink with an admixture of milk. The lake was named so by local residents belonging to the Wolof people.

Its area is small - 3 square kilometers, while the maximum depth is only 3 meters in some places.

Pink lake Retba in Senegal

Once on the site of Pink Lake there was a lagoon connected to the Atlantic Ocean, only the waters constantly washed sand, which led to the disappearance of the channel. As a result, a salt lake with a fairly decent depth appeared.

However, already in the 70s of the 20th century, droughts began in the country, which led to a constant and significant decrease in the volume of the reservoir, so the Pink Lake Retba eventually became shallow, while the concentration of salts in the water increased.

At the same time, the lake acquired its color, thanks to which it has an unusual name and attracts travelers from all over the world. There are a couple of reasons why the color is the way it is:

increased salinity;
microorganisms.

Salt in water has such a high concentration that its indicator exceeds this parameter of the Dead Sea by one and a half times and is 380 g/liter. In this regard, any swimmer keeps well on the surface, it is almost impossible to drown in the Pink Lake Retba, rest on the water is really relaxing and relaxing.

Naturally, such a huge salinity of the reservoir has led to the fact that few inhabitants can survive in these conditions, therefore the main inhabitants are the most ancient cyanobacteria - Dunaliella salina, which have been living on the planet for several billion years. Thanks to them, the shade of water is so extraordinary.

At the same time, Pink Lake is not always the same color, the color is affected by:

Times of Day;
cloudiness;
wind.

It is during windy weather that microorganisms are most active, at the same time they produce the largest amount of pink enzyme. In general, the color palette can be from light pink to deep brown.

The entire coastline of this colored lake is filled with small boats, which are not intended for swimming or fishing, but for the main local occupation - salt mining.

If a couple of decades ago, salt miners worked, standing in water only to the waist, now the main depth is up to the neck. Such an increase in the depth of the reservoir is due to the fact that the volumes of salt produced are extremely large - more than 20 tons per year.

This process of obtaining this important product is simple - every day local men go to the Pink Lake, in its very center they plunge into the water with all the devices. Since salt is accumulated at the bottom, it is beaten off with hooks, removed from the liquid with shovels and placed in a boat. All this is done by touch, because the head is always above the surface.

Such fishing is dangerous, as salt water corrodes the skin, forming wounds that heal for a long time. The only way to protect yourself from this is with fat, so miners cover themselves with shea butter before diving.

Men's work consists in the direct extraction of salt from the lake, everything else is done by women, who are included in the process already from unloading the filled boat.

From the reservoir, salt is moved on the head, for this, about 25 kilograms of a wet product are placed in containers, which are carried in this way to a drying place on the coast.

The color of the salt changes during processing:

dark gray when mined;
more white when lying in the sun.

Salt remains lying on the shore in heaps until wholesale buyers come for it, until this moment a year may pass and more. This product is exported mainly to the countries of the Black Continent, sometimes it is also sent to Europe, where it is considered exotic.

Local Africans rarely use lake salt, most often they use sea salt in everyday life, but in restaurants they sometimes bake fish in it.

Salt workers live right on the shore of the lake, for them there is a small village in which frail dwellings are built from the available materials with their own hands. Usually residents of not only but also other African countries work here, because they pay good money for such work. Only the conditions are very difficult, so earnings usually last only a few years.

For visiting tourists who want to look at the pink reservoir, there are several hotels. To make your vacation memorable, we recommend:

swim in a boat on the pink water surface;
go on a jeep tour around the lake;
buy a few souvenirs sold here on the spot.

A pink lake is a lake that has a reddish or pink color due to the presence of algae that produce carotenoids (organic pigments)

A pink lake is a lake that has a reddish or pink color due to the presence of algae that produce carotenoids (organic pigments). These include algae such as Dunaliella salina, which is a type of halophile green microalgae that lives in particularly salty sea water. Thanks to their pink color, these lakes are becoming more and more popular among tourists and photographers from all over the world.

1 Lake Hillier, Australia

This reservoir is located on the edge of the Middle Island (Middle Island), which is part of the Exploration Archipelago, stretching for tens of kilometers along the southern coast of Western Australia. The peculiarity of the lake is its bright pink color. The color of the water is constant and does not change if water is poured into a container. The length of the lake is about 600 meters. It is separated from the ocean by a narrow strip of land, consisting of sand dunes covered with vegetation.

For the first time people discovered an unusual lake in 1802. Then the British navigator Matthew Flinders decided to stop on the island on his way to Sydney. What was the surprise of the traveler when, among the dense forests of the island, he stumbled upon a pink reservoir. The lake is surrounded by white salt deposits and dense forests of tea and eucalyptus trees. To the north, sand dunes separate the lake from the Southern Ocean.

The lake is very popular and tourists tend to get there, even passengers of planes flying over the lake take pictures of this miracle of nature.

2. Retba, Senegal

Lake Retba or Pink Lake is located east of the Cape Vert peninsula in Senegal, northeast of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. It got its name because of the color of the water in which Dunaliella salina algae grow.

The color is especially noticeable during the dry season. The lake is also known for its high salt content, which, like the Dead Sea, makes it easy for people to float.

There is a small salt mining business on the lake. Many workers who collect salt work 6-7 hours a day in the lake, which has a salt content of about 40%. To protect their skin, they rub "Beurre de Karité" (shea butter) into it, which softens the skin and prevents tissue damage. What today is called Lake Retba was once a lagoon. But the Atlantic surf gradually washed up the sand, and in the end the channel that connected the lagoon with the ocean turned out to be covered up. For a long time, Retba remained an unremarkable salt lake.

But in the 70s of the last century, a series of droughts hit Senegal, Retba became very shallow and the extraction of salt, which lay in a thick layer at the bottom, became quite profitable. At the same time, the water in the lake acquired a pink hue due to microorganisms that can exist in a saturated saline solution.

Amazingly colored water and charming boats completely cover the two-kilometer coastline of Pink Lake, or Lake Retba, as it is called in the language of the Wolof people, the largest ethnic group in Senegal.

Besides them, there is no other organic life in Retba - for algae, not to mention fish, such a salt concentration is detrimental. It is here almost one and a half times higher than in the Dead Sea - three hundred and eighty grams per liter!

3. Salt Lake Torrevieja (Alina de Torrevieja), Spain

Torrevieja Salt Lake and La Mata Salt Lake are salt lakes surrounding Torrevieja, a seaside town in southeastern Spain. The microclimate created by the largest salt lakes in Europe - Torrevieja and La Mata, is declared one of the healthiest in Europe, according to the World Health Organization.

Alina de Torrevieja and La Salina de La Mata are the largest salt lakes in Europe. A special type of algae grows in the water, which gives the water a pink hue. The pink color of Lake Torrevieja, caused by the presence of algae and salt, gives it a "science fiction" look. Just like in the Dead Sea in Israel, here you can also just lie on the surface of the water. In addition, it will bring great benefits for the prevention and treatment of diseases of the skin and lungs. At the other end of the lake, salt is being mined, which is exported to different countries. Near the lake you can see a huge number of bird species.

4. Hutt Lagoon, Australia

Hutt Lagoon is depicted on the left side, and the Indian Ocean is on the right.

Hutt Lagoon is an elongated salt lake located off the coast north of the mouth of the Hutt River in midwestern Western Australia. It is located in the dunes adjacent to the coast.

Hutt Lagoon was once the mouth of the 60 km (37 miles) Hutt River, but at some point in the prehistoric past, the river changed its course and the mouth remained isolated from both the river and the sea.

The city of Gregory is located between the ocean and the southern shores of the lake. The road between Northampton (Northampton) and Kalbari (Kalbarri), called George Gray Drive (George Gray Drive), runs along the western edge of the lake.

The lake acquired this color due to the abundance of the same algae that produce beta-carotene.

This lagoon is home to the world's largest microalgae farm. The total area of small artificial ponds in which Dunaliella saline is bred is 250 hectares. The lake is 14 kilometers long and 2 kilometers wide.

Hutt Lagoon is a salty pink lake that has a red or pink hue due to the presence of Dunaliella saline in the water. Algae of this species produce carotenoids, which are a source of beta-carotene, food coloring and a source of vitamin A.

5. Lake Masazirgol, Azerbaijan

Masazir Lake is a salt lake in the Karadag region near Baku, Azerbaijan. The total area of the lake is 10 square kilometers. The ionic composition of water contains large amounts of chloride and sulfate.

In 2010, a plant for the production of 2 types of Azeri salt was opened here. The approximate reserve of salt that can be extracted is 1735 million tons. It can be mined both in liquid state (from water) and in solid state.

Due to the high content of sulfate, the water in the lake is pink.

6. Dusty Rose Lake, Canada

This pink lake, located in British Columbia, Canada, is quite unusual, little known, and possibly unique. The water in this lake is not at all salty, and does not contain algae, but it still has a pink color. The photo shows pink water flowing into the lake. The color of the water is due to the unique combination of rocks in the area (stone dust from the glacier).

7. Pink Lake Quairading (Quairading), Australia

Pink Lake Kwairading is located 11 kilometers east of the city of Kwairading (Western Australia). The Bruce Rock Highway passes through it. The local population considers Pink Lake a natural wonder. At some times, one side of the lake turns deep pink while the other side remains pale pink.

8. Pink Lake, Australia

Pink Lake is a salt lake in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. It is located about 3 kilometers west of Esperanza and is connected to the east by the South Coast Highway. The lake is not always pink, but the distinctive color of the water when the lake takes on a pink hue is the result of the green algae Dunaliella brackish, as well as a high concentration of brine shrimp. The lake has been designated an Important Bird Habitat by the International Bird Protection and Habitat Conservation Organization.

9. And Another Natural Wonder: Pink Lake Field, Australia

This unusual landscape was captured from an airplane in western Australia. This field of pink lakes is located somewhere between the city of Esperance and Caiguna. There are hundreds of small pink lakes on the field, and each of them has its own unique shade of pink. This is due to the fact that the concentration of algae and salt in each lake is different from all the others.

In former times, Lake Retba was a lagoon that was connected to the ocean by a narrow channel. But the Atlantic surf, gradually washing up the sand, covered the channel, and the lagoon turned into a rather deep salt lake. In the 1970s, a period of drought began in Senegal, as a result of which the reservoir became very shallow.
It was then that Lake Retba acquired its unusual shade. The reason for the unique color of the water is that cyanobacteria live in the lake - the oldest microorganisms that appeared on Earth 3.5 billion years ago. Surprisingly, apart from them, there is no other organic life in this saturated saline solution. The concentration of salt in Lake Retba is almost 1.5 times higher than in the Dead Sea - 380 grams per liter. In Pink Lake, like the Dead Sea, it is very difficult to drown. You can safely swim on the surface of the water while reading a book or newspaper.

The color of the water of the Senegalese lake can change its shade from light pink to brown. The saturation of the color depends on the time of day, on cloudiness, and especially on the wind, since with a strong wind the cyanobacterium is activated and produces more of an enzyme that turns the water pink.

An unusual lake lies to the northeast of the Cape Zeleny peninsula, at the extreme southern tip of which is the city of Dakar. You can get to Dakar International Airport only with a transfer, there are no direct flights from Russia and Ukraine. Flight options include Iberia via Madrid, Lufthansa via Frankfurt, Air France via Paris, Alitalia via Milan and North African carriers Royal Air Maroc via Casablanca, Air Algerie via Algiers and Tunisair via Tunisia.

The two-kilometer coastline of Lake Retba is densely strewn with flat-bottomed boats, very similar to Russian ones. But they don’t fish on them, they don’t go to the neighboring village and they don’t carry hay. On Pink Lake, boats serve only to extract salt.

It is today that people extract salt, standing up to their necks in water - 20 years ago they moved around the lake without swimming aids - the water level in it reached the waist. And due to the extraction of a huge amount of salt (about 25 thousand tons per year), the depth of the lake is rapidly increasing.

Every morning, dozens of local men, taking the necessary equipment, swim to the middle of the lake and climb into very salty water. They break the salt deposits at the bottom of the reservoir with special hooks, and then they scoop up the salt with shovels and load it into boats. A high concentration of saline solution can corrode the skin in just a few tens of minutes, as a result of which hard-healing ulcers form on the body. To prevent this, before getting into the boat, the miners rub themselves with shea butter, which is extracted from the fruits of the tallow tree.

When a pirogue full of salt lands on the shore, the men's mission ends there - the salt from the boats is unloaded by the women. They carry basins on their heads loaded with wet salt, weighing more than 25 kg, and pour it out on the shore of the lake to dry. Initially, the salt extracted from the reservoir has a dark gray color, but under the influence of tropical sunlight, it gradually begins to turn white. In each pile of salt is a plate on which the number of the owner is indicated. Here she can wait a year or two for wholesale buyers.
Salt, which is mined here, is exported to African countries and, as an exotic product, even to Europe. Basically, the inhabitants of Senegal are content with salt, which they obtained from sea water. But sometimes local restaurants serve fish baked in salt from Lake Retba.

The workers live here, on the shores of Pink Lake, in a small village, in shacks built from improvised materials: polyethylene film, reeds, sheet iron and old car tires. They come here to work from neighboring countries in Africa and from the Senegalese provinces, but stay for no more than a few years because of the difficult working conditions. However, by the standards of this country, they make good money.

Due to the active extraction of salt, Lake Retba is getting shallower every year. Over the past ten years, the area of the Senegalese lake has decreased by almost three times, and if measures are not taken in the near future to protect this natural object, it may disappear from the face of the earth forever.

When you imagine a lake, then, for sure, images of the water surface of blue or bluish-green color pop up in your imagination. But, in reality, nature has created a much more diverse palette of shades in which reservoirs can be painted. Turquoise, emerald, brown, yellow and even red and pink lakes exist on earth. In which regions of the world are pink and red lakes? Why is their color so unusual? As it turned out, scientists have long known the answer to these questions.

There are a considerable number of bodies of water in the world that have a striking pink or red color. Moreover, this phenomenon is not associated with any unusual chemical composition of water or its industrial pollution. The pink lake phenomenon is caused by natural reactions that occur in salt water with certain bacteria and algae when exposed to intense sunlight. Pink-orange color you will never meet in fresh water - only salt lakes and the coastal waters of some seas are able to change their natural azure color to an unearthly lilac or reddish hue.

What causes the transformation of the natural color of water into pink, coral or scarlet tone? The extremely high concentration of salt in the water (more than 20%) creates ideal conditions for the existence of three types of microorganisms called gallophiles - literally, salt lovers who survive only in the salt lake ecosystem, endowing its water with shades of red:

Algae Dunaliella salina
Bacteria Salinobacter ruber
The simplest archaea (Archaea)

Algae and microorganisms of these species can develop in the most extreme conditions - a significant content of alkalis and even ammonia, critically high temperatures - an excellent environment for their growth. The high salt content and exposure to active sunlight provoke the micro-algae Dunaliella to produce protective compounds - carotenoids or beta-carotene, which has a red-coral color. This pigment blocks solar radiation and allows microorganisms to survive. The bright pink or reddish-orange color of water containing Dunaliella can be enhanced by the parallel presence of Archaea protozoa and Salinobacter ruber bacteria.

Few animals have chosen salt lakes as their habitat. But those who live on their shores have the same unusual appearance as the surreal lakes themselves. The main inhabitants of these reservoirs are pink flamingos, whose plumage color is formed only because they feed on carotene-containing algae and plankton of the red shrimp - brine shrimp. Flamingo James, Andean, Chilean flamingos and other species of these birds build clay hills in the shape of a truncated cone about 50 cm high in the shallow water of salt lakes, which serve as their nests.

Lake Hillier

pink lake Hillier, located in the coastal strip in the southwestern part of Australia, on the Middle Island of the Recherche Archipelago, is considered somewhat mysterious due to the fact that microorganisms that lead to the formation of pink water are not found in it. Therefore, the constant color of the reservoir - strawberries whipped with cream - is an unsolved mystery of nature. Although the lake is small - its length is 600 meters and its width is 250 meters, it is considered the most beautiful of the pink lakes in Australia and around the world. About a kilometer of sand dunes separating Lake Hillier from the Indian Ocean, but the reefs surrounding the island leave only one way to reach the lake - by air.

Lake Hutt Lagoon (Hutt Lagoon)

In the dry season, Hatt Lake is completely covered with a crust of pink salt, and during the monsoon period it is replenished not only with rain, but also with sea water, as it is very close to the coast and below ocean level. The length of the lagoon is 14 km, the width is 2 km, and 250 hectares of the reservoir area is occupied by the world's largest plant for the processing of Dunaliella salina algae for the production of food additives, dyes, other food components and cosmetics.

Pink Lake

Pink Lake is located in the Goldfields-Esperance region in Western Australia and covers an area of 4 by 2 kilometers. The pink color of the lake is not permanent, but appears during the flowering of the green algae Dunaliella Salina during a drought and, in part, due to the presence of the bacteria Halobacteria cutirubrum. Due to the existence of an extensive population of pink flamingos in the range of Pink Lake, the reservoir is recognized as an Important Bird Area of the world.

Lake Quarading (Quairading Pink Lake)

Absolutely round in shape, Quairading salt lake is famous for the fact that it is interrupted by an earthen road that divides the reservoir into two parts. One half of the lake has a natural color, while the other half is dark burgundy, the color saturation of which varies depending on the season.

Lake Macleod

To the north of the small coastal town of Carnarvon, in the west of Australia, there is another of the five known pink lakes on the green mainland - McLeod. The area of the reservoir is 1500 km2, the maximum depth is 1.5 meters. About 400 km2 in the northwestern part of the lake is a habitat for many birds, recognized as an ornithological and natural reserve, known for its. The southern end of McLeod is heavily exploited for salt and gypsum mining.

Lake Eyre

Australia's most famous lake is a dry, salty lake. Lake Eyre. It cannot be unequivocally attributed to pink lakes, but carotenoids, present in Eyre water, cause a purple color to appear regularly on its surface. The lake is 144 km long and 77 km wide.