PINK LAKES! SO AWESOME!
If you love pink, we’ve got some lakes for you! All, naturally pink and spectacular, they look like they belong on another planet.
The pink color comes from special algae, minerals, and/or microorganisms, giving the lakes highly specialized ecosystems. In some cases, fish and birds that feed at these lakes take on a pinkish hue. Some lakes are devoid of fish and birds because the mineral content renders them too alkaline.
We found some dreamy pink lakes in Tanzania, Sengal, Bolivia, Spain, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Australia, and New Zealand. While you won’t want to swim in them, they are awaiting your highly Instagrammable photos! So think pink! And put them on your exotic travel bucket list!
Hutt Lagoon, located on the western coast of Australia, is a system of pink salt lakes fed by waters from the Indian Ocean. The salt, sunlight, and blooming reddish algae, create the lake’s light pink color. Surrounding pink sand add the the glory.
Sunset is the best time to see the Lagoon, with the pink sky reflecting off of the pink waters. But it is also spectacular to see the pink water contrasting against a bright blue sky.
Lake Syvash is actually a system of salt-water lagoons in Crimea, Ukraine. We are treated to a rare look at this pink beauty by a series of amazing photographs, taken by Sergey Anashkevych.
The lake, also known as The Rotten Sea, covers about 2,560 km2 and its waters are exceptionally shallow. The deepest part is about 3 meters, while most areas are between ½ and 1 meter. As with many other pink lakes, its color comes from salt-loving algae -- there’s about 200 million tons of salt in this lake to love.
See more of Anashkevych’s incredible photos here.
Laguna Colorada, in the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, in Bolivia, is a riot of pinks -- from the lake itself to the rare James’, Chilean, and Andean species of flamingos that wade in it.
The lake’s pinkish-reddish color is caused by red mineral sediments and reddish algae. White borax “islands” dot the lake, lending contrast against the pink.
Enjoy the magnificent wildlife and colorful landscapes of the surrounding Andes Mountain range.
Lake Retba, in Senegal, gets its pink color from Dunaliella salina algae, which produces pigment to assist in its absorption of light. The algae thrives in the saline water -- with a salt content of around 40%, similar to that of the famed Dead Sea, in Israel. Fish in the lake have adapted to manage the heavy salt content.
Beautiful Pink surrounds the lake as well, with magenta colored samphire bushes and pinkish sand dunes at its edge. The lake’s pink color is particularly visible during the dry season (from November to June) and is less visible during the rainy season (July to October).
You won’t see a lake like Lake Natron anywhere else on this planet. Check out the color! And the patterns!
This lake, in northern Tanzania, has a unique chemistry, called natron (sodium carbonate decahydrate or hydrated soda ash). It’s level of alkalinity is close to that of ammonia. And the water is hot -- 60 °C (140 °F). No swimming here.
Salt-loving microorganisms (halophiles) proliferate, including some cyanobacteria. They utilize a special pigment for photosynthesis that produces deep red and orange colors.
Read more about this lake in our previous post, Extraordinary Tanzanian Excursions Now.
Salina de Torrevieja, a pink salt lake in Torrevieja, Spain, has a lower salt content than many of the other pink algae-filled lakes.
It is a lovely place to visit, not only for its colorful landscape and wildlife, but also for its pleasant microclimate, thanks to its position between the sea and the salt lake.
Be sure to check out the Museum of Sea and Salt!
The beautiful pink Masazir Lake, near Baku, in Azerbaijan, gets its color from the estimated 1,735 million tons of mineral salt deposits here.
Locals harvest over 1 billion tons of salt each year.
Lake Hillier, at the edge of Middle Island, in Western Australia, is another pink lake that owes its color to the Dunaliella salina microalgae and red halophilic (salt-loving) bacteria in the salt crusts around the lake.
The lake is around 600 meters long and 250 meters wide. Paperbark and eucalyptus trees surround the lake, as well as plant-covered sand dunes.
The best way to see this lake is from above. It looks just like a globule of pink candy or bubble-gum when seen from the sky!
The aptly and simply named Pink Lake, located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, gets its rosy hue from beta-carotene-rich Dunaliella salina algae, pink salt-loving bacteria known as Halobacteria cutirubrum, and a high concentration of pink brine prawn.
The lake has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports native and migratory birds. To get the best views, check out Pink Lake lookout!
Champagne Pool, in the North Island of New Zealand, often looks like a giant goblet of pink champagne, bubbling with carbon dioxide rising up from its bottom. This terrestrial hot spring was formed about 900 years ago by hydrothermal eruption within the Waiotapu geothermal area.
Metallic sediments cause the lake to appear pink sometimes, as well as a variety of other colors at other times. These colourful deposits are in sharp contrast to the grey-white silica deposits surrounding the Pool.
Read more about Fresh Water all this week on BeautifulNow. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.
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- Photo: by node worx.. “Pink Lake - Hutt Lagoon near Port Gregory, Western Australia.”
- Photo: by node worx.. “Pink Lake - Hutt Lagoon near Port Gregory, Western Australia.”
- Photo: by Sergey Anashkevych. Lake Syvash, aka Rotten Sea. Crimea, Ukraine.
- Photo: by Sergey Anashkevych. Lake Syvash, aka Rotten Sea. Crimea, Ukraine.
- Photo: by Carlos Adampol Galindo. Flamingos en la Laguna Colorada, Uyuni, Bolivia.
- Photo: by Mireia Saenz de Buruaga. “Le Lac Rose (Sénégal).” Cap Vert, Sénégal.
- Photo: Lake Natron. Tanzania. Courtesy of Original Travel.
- Photo: by Tomas Penalver. Salina De Torrevieja. Torrevieja, Spain.
- Photo: Masazir Lake, Azerbaijan. Courtesy of Joe’s Trippin.
- Photo: by Kurioziteti123. Lake Hillier. Australia.
- Photo: Pink Lake, Port Gregory, Australia. Courtesy of Fifty Toes Walkabout.
- Photo: by Darren Puttock. “Champagne pool, Waiotapu, New Zealand.”
- Photo: Lake Natron, Tanzania. Courtesy of NMA News Direct.
- Photo: by Ockert Le Roux. Pink Lake. Lake Hillier, Australia.
- Photo: by Daniela Szczepanski. Lake Natron. Tanzania.