calcified animals from lake natron in tanzania

When photo-eye asked Brandt about his recent work, he said that “The photos, darker in tone than previous work, reflect the further ongoing diminishing of the natural world of Africa.” This image features a dove on the left, and a sea eagle on the right. BE WARNED: these images may be slightly disturbing.īrandt posed the animals as part of his photography. Photographer Nick Brandt participated in a 2011 photo-eye blog which featured his images from the alkaline part of the lake. The waters’ alkalinity tested somewhere between pH 9 and 10.5, dangerously basic due to years of volcanic ash spreading sodium carbonate throughout the Great Rift valley.Īlthough the lake is home to thousands of flamingos that nest near its waters and feed on a diet of alkaline tilapia, any other animals that make the mistake of swimming there will die and become petrified statues. Unless you’re a species that’s adapted to extremely harsh conditions, Lake Natron is a difficult environment to survive. Lake Natron, named for the compound that occurs naturally in its waters, looks like a description directly out of Dante’s Divine Comedy: a black, sullen swamp where the cruel and vindictive meet their fate, although the birds who perish there could hardly be labeled as such.

The New Scientist reports that a bizarre lake in northern Tanzania is turning animals into calcified statues. As isolated as the lake is (it wasn't even discovered by Europeans until 1954), there are no protections in place for the lake or its threatened flamingo population.įollow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+. The serenity of Lake Natron - and its flamingo population - are threatened by a proposed hydroelectric power plant on the Ewaso Ngiro River, the main river feeding the lake. As shallow lakes in a hot climate, their water temperatures can reach as high as 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius). Both are terminal lakes that do not drain out to any river or sea they are fed by hot springs and small rivers. Lake Natron is one of two alkaline lakes in that area of East Africa the other is Lake Bahi. The flamingos' nests are built on small islands that form in the lake during the dry season.

During breeding season, more than 2 million lesser flamingos ( Phoenicopterus minor) use the shallow lake as their primary breeding ground in Africa.

Calcified animals from lake natron in tanzania