One would be forgiven in thinking that Lake Natron is a fictional made-up place. With its rather odd bloody red color, slimy texture, and surface covered with dead fish, it would be better suited to belong in horror movies.
However, it’s as real as can be!
It is a lake of death and is one of the scariest lakes in the world.
This eerie lake is located on the border of northern Tanzania and Kenya. It spreads across the Rift Valley of the Naivasha area which is just next to the famous Masai Mara. The lake has a unique layered topography and is the largest brackish lake in the world. It is surrounded by volcanic rock which is covered with a black crust of salt which is so vast that it can be seen from space.
The reason why it has such high levels of salt is that water can only flow into it but not out of it. It is not connected to any rivers or seas where it can drain out, so the only way water can escape is through evaporation. As water leaves the lake, this increases the concentration of salt and other minerals left behind.
One of the other reasons for such high concentrations of salt is the fact that the lake is situated in close proximity to an active volcano known as Ol Doinyo Lengai. This active volcano spews out a cocktail of sodium and potassium bicarbonate, also known as Natrocarbonatite, or Natron, from where the lake gets its name, further increasing the salt concentration.
The salt levels in the lake are so high that the water in it is completely devoid of oxygen. The alkaline lake is a perfect environment for the growth of halophilic bacteria and cyanobacteria which are a contributing factor for the lake’s red color and the slimy textured layer.
The lake is extremely dangerous to humans because of these high levels of salt and also due to the incredibly high temperature of the water which can get up to 60oC. The alkaline conditions, at a pH of approximately 10.5, which are close to ammonia, can cause serious health issues for humans if they get into the water. The salt levels can cause severe dehydration and salt poisoning and even burn skin and eyeballs. The lake is also known for its high levels of arsenic that are even higher than the levels in the Dead Sea. The high arsenic levels in the lake are also one of the reasons for the dark red color of the lake. There are an array of heavy metals that exist in the lake. The high levels of mercury and lead are responsible for the large numbers of fish kills which are so large that even these can be seen from space!
Due to the harsh conditions, one would think that this would be a deserted barren lake with no signs of life, however, it is home to many wildlife including, large numbers of crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and other large animals. However, the lake is like a magnet to migratory birds, especially flocks of lesser flamingos, every year.
The population of flamingos in the lake is estimated to be around 2.5 million during the breeding season. Flamingos are attracted to the lake because of the huge numbers of fish they find in the lake. Flamingos are able to flourish here due to several key reasons; they have thick scaly skin that is tough enough to encounter the extreme environment of the lake. Flamingos also have special glands in their nasal cavities that allow them to filter out the salt from the lake’s water. The birds use the lake as a prime breeding ground and build their nests on small dried islands that form within the lake during the dry season.
One of the phenomenons associated with this lake is that when an animal or bird dies in this caustic lake, it appears that they turn into statues instantly. However, this is not the case! Animals that died in the lake many years ago start to appear when water levels fluctuate due to the heat. When the levels drop, perfectly intact and preserved stone corpses begin to wash up on the shores. High levels of sodium carbonate and bicarbonate, which were the key ingredients used in Egyptian mummification, in the lake cause animals to become mummified due to calcification of the bones.
Famous photographer, Nick Brandt is an American nature photographer. He has been visiting Lake Natron since 2009 and has over 15,000 photographs of the lake. Many of his pictures are known for their powerful and haunting quality. He discovered what was happening at the lake and began to document it. “It was amazing. I saw entire flocks of dead birds all washed ashore together, lemming-like,” he says. “You’d literally get, say, a hundred finches washed ashore in a 50-yard stretch.”
He believed that birds would fly into the mirror-like and reflective lake thinking it was an empty space, not realizing that they were flying in a lake! This is also the case when not so long ago, a helicopter with several passengers crashed into the lake causing it to rapidly corrode! Thankfully, everybody survived the crash and made it out of the lake, albeit with many burn-like injuries.
His most famous work is of a hippopotamus that was lying dead in the lake for over 20 years. The hippo was found in the lake in 1995 by a fisherman who was out fishing in the lake. The hippo is estimated to be around 2,000 years old and is one of the oldest statues in the world.
The lake is a very popular destination for tourists to venture to and has a vast ecosystem that many species thrive in. However, this African wonder has come under threat numerous times. Attempts have been made in the past for the proposed construction of a soda ash plant and a hydroelectric plant, which would completely destroy the flamingo population. Thankfully many of these plans have been opposed by international bodies and are not going ahead.