Pink lake retba in senegal west africa. Pink Lake

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 seawater. Thanks to their pink color, these lakes are becoming increasingly popular among tourists and photographers from all over the world.

This body of water is located on the edge of Middle Island, which is part of the Exploration Archipelago, which stretches 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.

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

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

2. Retba, Senegal

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

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

There is a small salt mining business on the lake. Many salt workers work 6-7 hours a day in the lake, which contains about 40% salt. To protect their skin, they rub “Beurre de Karité” (Shea Butter, obtained from shea nuts collected from the shea tree) into it, which softens the skin and prevents tissue damage. What is called Lake Retba these days, when- that was a lagoon. But the Atlantic surf gradually washed in the sand, and eventually the channel connecting the lagoon with the ocean was filled 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, the 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 tint thanks to microorganisms that can exist in a saturated saline solution.

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

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

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

Salt lake Torrevieja 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 tint. The pink color of Lake Torrevieja, caused by the presence of algae and salt, gives it a "science fiction" appearance. Just like in the Dead Sea in Israel, here you can also just lie on the surface of the water. In addition, this will be of great benefit for the prevention and treatment of skin and lung diseases.

At the other end of the lake, salt is mined and exported to different countries. You can see a huge number of bird species near the lake.

4. Hutt Lagoon, Australia

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

Hutt Lagoon is an elongated salt lake located off the coast north of the Hutt River estuary in the mid-west of Western Australia. It is located in the dunes adjacent to the coast.

Hutt Lagoon was once the mouth of the 60km (37 mi) Hutt River, but at some point in the prehistoric past, the river changed course and the estuary 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 and Kalbarri, called George Gray Drive, runs along the western edge of the lake.

The lake acquired this color thanks 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 salina is bred is 250 hectares.

The lake is 14 kilometers long and 2 kilometers wide.

Hutt Lagoon is a salty pink lake, having a red or pink hue due to the presence of Dunaliella saline in the water. This type of algae produces carotenoids, which are a source of beta carotene, a food coloring and a source of vitamin A.

5. Lake Masazirgol, Azerbaijan

Lake Masazir is 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 volumes of chloride and sulfate.

Workers load salt into horse-drawn carts

In 2010, a plant was opened here to produce two MFAs of Azeri salt. The estimated reserve of salt that can be extracted is 1,735 million tons. It can be extracted both in a liquid state (from water) and in a solid state.

Due to the increased sulfate content, the water in the lake is pink

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 is still pink in color. The photo shows pink water flowing into the lake. The color of the water is due to the unique combination of rocks in this area (rock dust from the glacier).

Pink Lake Quirading is located 11 kilometers east of Quirading (Western Australia). The Bruce Rock Highway passes through it.

The local population considers Pink Lake a natural miracle. At certain times, one side of the lake turns dark pink while the other remains pale pink.

Pink Lake is a salt lake in the Goldfields-Esperance region, western Australia. It is located approximately 3 kilometers west of Esperance and is connected to the east by motorway south coast(South Coast Highway).

The lake is not always pink, but the distinctive color of the water, when the lake takes on a pink tint, is the result of the activity of the green algae Dunaliella salina, as well as a high concentration of saltwater shrimp. The lake has been noted as an important bird habitat, international organization to protect birds and preserve their habitat.

And another miracle of nature: Field of Pink Lakes, Australia

This unusual landscape was captured from an airplane in western Australia. This field of pink lakes is located somewhere between Esperance and Caiguna.

There are hundreds of small pink lakes throughout the course, each with 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 Senegal, near Cape Verde, off the ocean coast, a lake with an area of ​​3 square kilometers was found. Another pink lake is Retba.

Pink tint, sometimes turning into red color. She doesn't look pink every time. Only during periods of drought and calm. The water gets this color because of the bacteria (Halobacterium) living in it. The color reaches its peak during dry periods. The bacterium produces a pink pigment, protecting itself from salt water and the action of an aggressive environment. Rose water, when exposed to African light, shimmers with the colors of the rainbow. Combined with the snow-white mountains around the lake, the view is fantastic.

Why is Lake Retba salty?

The water in it is salty, twice as salty as in the Dead Sea. Retba holds the record for salt: 380 grams per liter. It is located next to the Atlantic Ocean and has no drainage. Sea water entering the Retba made it salty. The work of winds and waves, and the lagoon turned into a lake. It is three meters deep. Deposits of sea salt have accumulated at the bottom.

Residents of neighboring poor African countries extract salt. To protect the skin from caustic water, they cover it with a layer of oil. Salt is obtained in the most primitive way.

The workers dive and loosen the salt and lift it onto the boat. The salt is then unloaded onto the shore, dried and cleaned (dirt, impurities). The natives on the lake do not mine salt. They give this hard work to people from poor countries. They themselves work with tourists.

How to get to the pink lake?

The Pink Lake is located near the capital of the country - the city of Dakar. Just forty kilometers and you are on the shore. It is located very close to Atlantic Ocean.

You can get there:

• if you are a wealthy tourist, rent a car;
• if you are inclined to save money, buy a minibus ticket;
• if you are staying near the lake for a couple of days, book a hotel in Grand Côte;

What to see:

• The lake itself, during the day, as the lighting changes, the water surface changes;
• To see the optical effects, come here in calm weather;
• salt pyramids;
• the extraction of salt from the bottom of the lake;
• necklaces and bracelets made by local craftsmen;
• stand on the dunes where the Paris-Dakar rally recently took place;
• visit the turtle reserve, which is located next to Lake Retba.

There is a lake in Senegal that is bright pink. It was as if potassium permanganate had been poured into it. The water here is so salty that only one type of microorganism can survive in it - they give this color. For days on end, standing up to their necks in water, local residents scoop salt from the bottom of the lake and pour it into boats. The work is hard labor, but by African standards it is paid tolerably.

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

3. What is now called Lake Retba was once a lagoon. But the Atlantic surf gradually washed in the sand, and eventually the channel connecting the lagoon with the ocean was filled 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, the Retba became very shallow and the extraction of salt, which lay in a thick layer at the bottom, became quite profitable.

4. Nowadays people work, standing shoulder-deep in water; twenty years ago they didn’t swim on the Pink Lake, but walked - the water in it was waist-deep. But by extracting about twenty-five thousand tons of salt a year, people are rapidly deepening the lake. In some places its bottom dropped quite significantly - by three meters or more.

5. The water in the lake acquired a pink tint thanks to microorganisms that can exist in a saturated salt solution. Apart from them, there is no other organic life in the Retba - for algae, not to mention fish, such a concentration of salt is destructive. It is almost one and a half times higher here than in the Dead Sea - three hundred and eighty grams per liter...

6. Microbiologist Bernard Oliver decided to scientifically explain the reason for this unusual color of water. The lake is inhabited by the microorganism Dunaliella salina, which, absorbing sunlight, releases pigment

7. Due to the deepening of the bottom, it will soon be impossible to extract salt in the old old-fashioned way, and the Senegalese authorities will be faced with the problem of employing the army of miners and traders feeding around the lake. But for now, every morning, dozens of half-naked men, taking simple equipment, swim out to the middle of the lake, anchor the boat and climb into the incredibly salty water...

8. A saline solution of such a concentration can, in just half an hour, corrode the skin to such an extent that poorly healing ulcers form on it. Therefore, before getting into the boat, miners rub themselves with oil. It is obtained from the fruits of the tallow tree, scientifically it is called butyrosperma Parka... It is this oil that makes their bodies shine in the sun...

9. The salt at the bottom is first loosened, then, blindly, placed into the basket under water. From the basket, after allowing excess water to drain, it is reloaded into a boat... It seems that under such a weight the vessel should sink - but the dense salt solution reliably keeps it afloat. The main thing is not to forget to scoop the salt water out of the boat from time to time. To fill such a boat with salt - here it is called a pirogue - it takes a good worker three hours. During a working day, he must deliver three pirogues to the shore.

10. Men extract salt from the bottom of the lake... This is where their participation in the process ends - all further operations are performed by women, often very young, almost girls... They drag the salt in plastic basins to the shore and dump it there to dry. This work is, perhaps, no easier than men’s - a full basin weighs twenty to twenty-five kilograms... But in Africa, few people are concerned with the issues of protecting women’s and children’s labor...

11. Freshly mined salt is grayish in color. Therefore, after letting it dry, the women wash and sort it out to remove silt and sand... From small hills, each of which has a sign with the name of the owner stuck in it, the purified salt is poured into common heaps, a three-kilometer ridge stretching along the shore of the Pink Lake... It is in them for a year or two waits for wholesale buyers - during this time the salt, under the rays of the tropical sun, has time to fade and become completely white. The salt that is mined here using such primitive methods is exported to African countries and, as an exotic product, even to Europe. The Senegalese themselves are content with salt obtained industrially from sea water.

12. Wholesalers pay about thirty cents for a fifty-kilogram bag. The pie holds approximately five hundred kilograms. It turns out that for a day of hard labor the worker receives only nine dollars. But by African standards this is good money. Otherwise, migrant workers from neighboring countries- Mali, Guinea, Gambia, Upper Volta... They usually don’t stay here longer than two or three years. Otherwise you can become disabled. The Senegalese themselves look down on visiting workers. They make a living with more “skilled” work - buying and reselling salt, and as guides and bodyguards they accompany Europeans who come to see the miracle of nature - a lake whose water seems to be stained with blood...

13. Curious tourists also try to look into the village where salt miners live. It is located right next to the shore. When asked what this place is called, the residents answer: “No way, just a village”... At least three thousand people live here. There are even cars on the street that are old, like almost all cars in this country.

14. Workers build their dwellings from available materials - reeds growing nearby, plastic film, old tires... To call such a building a “shack” means to flatter it greatly. However, in the local climate, nothing more capital is required - the houses are designed to protect their inhabitants not from the cold, but from the sun and, at the end of summer - beginning of autumn, heavy rains...

The same car tires are used instead of well logs - there are four such wells in the village. In Europe, this muddy, salty-tasting water would probably not be used even for technical needs, but here they drink and cook food with it - there is no other way. You can hardly see any grazing goats around the village, although Senegalese peasants breed a lot of them. Beans and corn are the main food of salt miners...

The conditions in which African guest workers live can only be described as terrible. But the inhabitants of these shacks themselves treat the squalor that surrounds them as something completely normal. They didn’t come here to live, but to work - from morning to night to extract salt from the Pink Lake, which these strange Europeans admire so much.

Our planet is teeming with many mystical, unknown, scary and unusual beautiful places. Red and pink lakes are named after the color of their waters. Most often they have shades of red: pink, crimson, scarlet and closer to orange. Many of them are dangerous and inspire feelings of fear and horror.

Scientists say that the lakes owe their color to the microorganisms that live in their waters.

The creepy Red Lake Natron in Tanzania turns all living things into stone

In Africa, on the border with Kenya, in Tanzania there is an ominous Lake Narton. Everyone who touches him turns to stone. So far these are only careless birds.

Why do they become fossilized? It's simple: ideal alkalinity pH is from 9 to 10.5 and salt keeps the corpses in the condition that you see in the photo.

But the lake cannot be called dead - it is a haven for millions of pink flamingos. Birds come here to breed. This is an ideal habitat for them: predators avoid this lake, and blue-green algae with red pigments are good for food.

How to get to Lake Natron? From Kilimanjaro Airport to Arusha 50 km. And from Arusha it is another 240 km. Special tours There is no lake to this, but there is an item on the list of tours to the Oldoinyo-Lengai volcano: visiting Lake Natron. On your own, of course, it will be much more expensive. You can also see the red lake during a safari in National Park Serengeti National Park) or the Great Rift Valley.

Bloody Red Lagoon of Colorado in Bolivia

Another reddish lake, Laguna Colorado, is located in Bolivia, in the town of Eduardo Avaroa on the Altiplano. This is a state park with a salt lake. The color of the water is given by borax deposits and some algae.

The lake is inhabited by the same pink flamingos. Crowds of tourists from all over the world come to see these beautiful birds and the equally beautiful shallow lake.

How to get to Red Lagoon? You can get there from the towns of Tupiza or Uyuni by jeep (300 km). The place can be visited as part of the Andes tour.

Koyash mineral lake in Crimea

Koyashskoye Lake is located near the Borisovka resort, in the Opuk Bay, in the Cimmerian steppes.

To contemplate the beauty of the lake. Its rich pink color and fancy stone structures in salt crystals are worth coming to see in July-August. The water recedes and the salt comes out, settling on everything it meets on its way.

How to get there (get there)? From Feodosia, get to Borisovka and use your own transport along the dirt road. By public route from Kerch to Maryevka and then on foot 7 km.

Red salt lake Sasyk-Sivash in Crimea

And this is another lake on the Crimean peninsula, not far from the resort of Evpatoria. Lake Sasyk-Sivash is pink due to the evaporation of mineral salt. During evaporation, many carotenoid microalgae appear.

The healing properties of salt have attracted tourists for a long time. It has a high content of magnesium and potassium, bromine and calcium.

Another bizarre moment with Lake Sasyk-Sivash is the “boiling of the lake”. This miracle is understandable - it’s all due to underwater fountains (griffins).

How to get to Lake Sasyk-Sivash? You can take an electric train from Evpatoria to Saki. Then take a bus to Pribrezhnoye and walk 2 km. or by car.

The salty Chokraskoe lake is located not far from the village of Kurortnoye on Kerch Peninsula. It, like all the above, has the property of water turning pinkish-red. The reason for this is unicellular algae.

Tourists come here not only to look at the lake, but also to get healing mud - to receive treatment.

How to get there? By bus from Kerch to the village of Kurortnoye and 2 km. on foot.

Pink lakes tend to predominate in Australia. There is a large concentration of these unusual water areas. Lake Hiller is located at the very large island Middle Island in Western Australia.

How to get here? The problem is that the island is not inhabited, and you can see it from the window of an airplane. Although Australian travel companies offer trips on sea ships.

Lake Retba in Senegal

The pink lake Retba is located near the capital of Dakar in Senegal.

Pink lake in Altai

Or rather, not one pink lake, but two. The first lake Bursol or Buturlinskoye is located in the Slavogorodsky district Altai Territory(Bursol village), 500 km. from Barnaul to the steppe. And the second is called Raspberry Lake, located 400 km away. from the capital of Altai, near the village of the same name Raspberry Lake.

These salty pink lakes are a great place to relax and prevent the treatment of many diseases. It is clear that the only industry here is salt production. The pink color of the lakes comes from the crustaceans Artemia and nauplii.

It is better to get there by your own transport or from Branaul by bus: to Raspberry Lake - to the village of Mikhailovskoye, to Buturlinsky - to Slavgorod.

Senegal, a state in West Africa on the Atlantic Ocean, if not for the lack of infrastructure, could become one of the most popular tourist destinations peace. Here, perhaps, there is everything that a real traveler might like - long sandy beaches, wonderful climate, colonial cities such as Saint-Louis with characteristic colorful boats on the ocean. There are also objects included in the list World Heritage UNESCO, such as the island of Gori - largest center slave trade in Africa. And near the capital of the country, Dakar, in a relaxed atmosphere is one of the unique natural wonders in the world - Lake Retba, also known as Pink Lake due to its unusual color.

This same Lake Retba is located about 20 km from the capital and from the westernmost point of Africa - Cape Verde, and it is separated from the Atlantic Ocean only by a narrow strip of dunes. The water turns an unusual pink color throughout Senegal's dry season, which lasts from November to May, with the color changing depending on the angle of the sun.

The unusual color of the lake, which is reflected in its name, is associated with the presence of cyanobacteria in the water, which produce a special pigment. Affects the shade and presence of minerals on the shores of the lake, mainly chlorine and minerals.

The reservoir, which covers an area of ​​3 square kilometers, is also characterized by high salinity, this allows people to easily swim on the water, as is the case with Dead Sea. The salt content in a liter of water here is estimated at 380-400 grams!

It is not surprising that the extraction of salt from the Pink Lake has become one of the main activities local residents who spend several hours a day there. To protect their skin from the harmful effects of water, they lubricate their bodies with a special local shea butter. Once the silt is removed from the bottom, it is washed and dried, resulting in many distinctive salt mounds visible on the shore.

Lake Retba brings double income to the people of Senegal - firstly, it is the extraction and sale of salt, and secondly, thanks to its pink color, it quickly became a popular attraction that attracts tourists from all over the world.

An interesting fact is that one of the main stages of the famous Paris-Dakar rally, which is now held in Argentina, used to take place along the coast of the Pink Lake.