Bathing in Pepto-Bismol?

Hi there! Wonderful to see you! Help yourself to a mug of coffee and a virtual treat. Try one of those pink-frosted strawberry muffins. Speaking of pink...

Would you believe it if someone told you Pepto Bismal isn’t manufactured from chemicals, but sourced from the water of a natural lake? It isn’t true, but you certainly might you certainly might be tempted to believe it after seeing pictures of the Lake Hillier, a bright, bubble gum pink body of water located on the edge of Recherche Archipelago’s largest island, in Australia. 

The salt water lake is so striking that airplane passengers passing over Middle Island often get out of their seats just to get a glimpse of it.

The earliest records mentioning the existence of Lake Hillier are the journals of Matthew Flinders, a British navigator and hydrographer. In 1802, Flinders had to climb Middle Island’s highest peak to survey the surrounding waters and came across the remarkable pink lake. Hillier has been pretty much untouched by human hand for a long time, except for a few years when a salt extraction operation was set up in the area. 

The pink lake isn’t just stunningly beautiful, but a also a natural mystery scientists have been unable to unravel. So far, no explanation has ever been found for its unique hue. Some theories state that the color could result from a dye created by the organisms living in the lake – Dunaliella salina and Halobacteria. 

Another speculation is that the pink color might be  attributed to the presence of red halophilic bacteria in the salt crusts. No one knows for sure, but that bright pink definitely is definitely no illusion. When the water is collected in a container, it retains its pinkish tinge. Although the waters are shallow and have been deemed safe to swim in, most tourists are reluctant to go in for a dip in what looks like a delicious strawberry milk shake.

I'd go in, wouldn't you? Go on...be a devil, eh! Of course, you never know what's lurking beneath the pink waves...

See ya, eh!

Bob

Comment from Don F. in Pattaya:
Hi Bob,

Great article on expiration date.  Several years ago, I told my wife that I did not want to be alive for a long time, past my expiration date, so to speak.  I did not want to make doctors even richer.  I wanted to be treated like an old Thai man with little or no money. Just keep me comfortable and let me go when
it is my time.

Bob's reply:
Sounds like a good plan, Don!