Wonderful Yet Deadly Lake Turns Its Victims into Stone Statues
Lake Natron is definitely one of the most amazing and beautiful lakes in t he world and at the same time it is ill-famed for being one of the most deadly water reservoirs on our planet. This Tanzanian lake attracts many animals. And kills most of them.
Natron is a massive area of 1,040 square kilometers (with some sources mentioning only 850 square kilometers) covered with water in northern Tanzania (Africa). It is only 50 centimeters deep.
Its waters are juicy red others see them bloody red and in some areas the color gets closer to orange.
The unusual color of the water is caused by an enormous amount of cyanobacteria (as well as algae) present there. Their development was boosted by the toxic properties of the water – all the animals that normally consume cyanobacteria die in such hostile environment.
The name of the lake comes from highly toxic substance present in water called natron.
Natron burns skin and eyes. As if that was not enough, the water is extremely salty and warm – it's temperature ranges from 40 – 60 degrees C.
Animals who drink the water simply burn out their internal organs, including critical parts of their nervous system and the liver. They die in extreme suffering.
The unusual properties of Natron waters result in the victims mummification making them look like stone statues.
But there are animals for which Natron and the area around it is a sanctuary protecting them against the rest of the world. These are flamingos.
As much as 75% of the total world's population of the birds hatch out right there. And their reddish color is due to drinking the water of Natron
How come that they don't die? It's all because of their unusual internal organs which can properly filter the water and their skin, thick enough to keep them safe from natron's impact.
Would you like to go there and see the lake?
