Alkaline Lake in Africa Turns Animals into Stone Statues

Well, hi there! Glad you could click by today. It's always a treat to see you. Speaking of treats, help yourself to out dazzling display of virtual doughnuts, muffins and assorted pastries. Wash them down with a perky mug of coffee. Remember, coffee is good for you and caffeine does wonders for your hair. Hey...we all have chemicals in our lives, don't we? Well, some are downright deadly...

When photographer Nick Brandt first visited Lake Natron, in Northern Tanzania, he was shocked by the macabre animal statues he saw aligned across its shoreline. He later found out something even more shocking – those were real animals calcified by the lake’s alkaline water.

Natron, which gives the lake its name, is a naturally occurring compound found in volcanic ash. It’s the same mineral the Egyptians used to preserve their mummies. The lake’s alkalinity is similar to that of ammonia, with a pH between 9 and 10.5, and the temperature of the water can reach 60 °C. 

No animal can withstand this caustic environment and venturing into the acidic environment is usually fatal. As soon as birds and bats plunge into the waters of lake Natron, the minerals start turning their flesh into stone and preserving them exactly as they were in their final moments. 

Flamingos sometime use the predator-free salt islands that sometimes form on the lake for nesting, but it’s a risky gamble, as the photos below clearly show. Only invertebrates, a few algae invertebrates and some fish that live near the edges of the lake can survive this environment.

Holy doodle! Remind me not to go there if I'm ever in Northern Tanzania, eh! Not that there's much of a chance of that happening any time soon.

See ya, eh!

Bob