This makes the lake highly corrosive, and contributes to the “stoning” of so many birds and mammals that fall victim to the water. Due to the caustic nature of the lake and the surrounding landscape, the flamingos can breed without fear of predators.ĭuring the dry season, Lake Natron’s pH levels can rise to 10.5, which is just below ammonia on the scale of caustic substances. Lake Natron is the one of very few places in the world where these birds breed. The flamingos eat the blue-green algae of the lake and use the salt-islands and the outer edges for breeding. The lake temperature can rise to 120 degrees (F), which makes it far too hot for any other kind of wildlife to live there, but lesser flamingos use the lake as feeding and nesting grounds. This algae gives the lake a rust-colored appearance from space. The only creatures that are surviving in Lake Natron include a single species of fish, alkaline tilapia ( Alcolapia latilabris), and cyanobacteria, a type of blue-green algae.

Evaporation of the surface creates islands of exposed salt deposits in the lake, some large enough to be recorded on satellite images. The lake is fed by a river and mineral hot springs in the area, but has no outlet, so these waters have nowhere to go but up. The dead animals are preserved in eerie detail, from birds to bats each one has been slowly turned to stone by the waters of Lake Natron. He picked up animals washed up onto the shore of the lake and placed them in pre-mortem positions for his photographs. Photographer Nick Brandt captured images of birds and other animals killed by the high alkaline content of the lake. The lake, named for the naturally occurring mix of chemicals including soda ash and baking soda in its waters, is so salty, fish can only survive along the edges where the saline content is somewhat lower. Birds are being turned to stone by the waters of Lake Natron in Tanzania, Africa.

Lake natron birds