Pink lake in Senegal. Dive into pink - seas, rivers and lakes of unusual colors. In which country is the pink lake located?

In former times, Lake Retba was a lagoon that was connected to the ocean by a narrow channel. But the Atlantic surf, which gradually washed up the sand, filled up the channel, and the lagoon turned into a rather deep salt Lake. In the 1970s, Senegal experienced a period of drought, as a result of which the reservoir became very shallow.
That’s when Lake Retba acquired its unusual hue. The reason for the unique color of the water is that the lake is home to cyanobacteria - the oldest microorganisms that appeared on Earth 3.5 billion years ago. The surprising thing is that besides them, there is no other organic life in this saturated salt solution. The salt concentration in Lake Retba is almost 1.5 times higher than in the Dead Sea - 380 grams per liter. In the Pink Lake, like the Dead Sea, it is very difficult to drown. You can calmly float on the surface of the water while reading a book or newspaper.

The color of the Senegalese lake water can vary from light pink to brown. The color saturation depends on the time of day, on cloudiness, and especially on the wind, since in strong winds the cyanobacterium is activated and produces more enzyme, which turns the water pink.

The unusual lake lies northeast of the Cape Verde Peninsula, at the extreme southern tip of which is the city of Dakar. Get to international Airport Dakar is only possible with a transfer; there are no direct flights from Russia and Ukraine. Flight options include Iberia via Madrid, Lufthansa via Frankfurt, Air France via Paris, Alitalia via Milan and North African carriers Royal Air Maroc via Casablanca, Air Algerie via Algeria and Tunisair via Tunisia.

The two-kilometer shoreline of Lake Retba is densely strewn with flat-bottomed boats, very similar to Russian ones. But they don’t fish with them, don’t travel to the neighboring village, and don’t carry hay. On Pink Lake, boats are used only for salt extraction.

Today people extract salt while standing up to their necks in water; 20 years ago they moved around the lake without swimming equipment - the water level in it reached their waists. And due to the extraction of huge amounts of salt (about 25 thousand tons per year), the depth of the lake is rapidly increasing.

Every morning, dozens of local men, taking the necessary equipment, swim to the middle of the lake and climb into the very salty water. They break up the salt deposits at the bottom of the reservoir with special hooks, and then scoop up the salt with shovels and load them into boats. A high concentration of saline solution can corrode the skin in just a few tens of minutes, resulting in the formation of hard-to-heal ulcers on the body. To prevent this, miners, before boarding the boat, rub themselves with shea butter, which is extracted from the fruit of the tallow tree.

When the pie full of salt moored to the shore, the men's mission ends here - the women unload the salt from the boats. They carry basins on their heads loaded with wet salt, weighing more than 25 kg, and dump it on the shore of the lake to dry. Initially, salt extracted from a reservoir is dark gray in color, but under the influence of tropical sunlight it gradually begins to turn white. Each pile of salt contains a sign indicating the owner's number. Here she can wait for wholesale buyers for a year or two.
The salt mined here is exported to African countries and, as an exotic product, even to Europe. Basically, the people of Senegal are content with salt, which they received from sea ​​water. But sometimes in local restaurants They serve fish baked in salt from Lake Retba.

The workers live here, on the shores of Pink Lake, in a small village, in shacks built from scrap materials: plastic film, reeds, sheet iron and old car tires. They come here to work from neighboring African countries and from Senegalese provinces, but stay for no more than a few years due to harsh working conditions. However, by the standards of this country they earn good money.

Due to active salt mining, Lake Retba is becoming shallower every year. Over the past ten years, the area of ​​the Senegalese lake has decreased almost three times, and if measures are not taken in the near future to protect this natural object, it may disappear from the face of the earth forever.

There are many attractions in Crimea. The most famous of them are: the Grand Canyon, Mount Ai-Petri and bird home. However, there are others on this peninsula that are very interesting, but, unfortunately, few Famous places. The category of such attractions includes Pink Lake. In Crimea it is the saltiest.

Where is it located?

This interesting tourist attraction is located on the territory of Cape Opuk, approximately 30 km from Kerch. Once upon a time there was a military training ground in this place. But not so long ago Opuksky was created here nature reserve. The area of ​​this reserve is not too large. But at the same time, a huge number of different kinds of rare birds live on its territory. Opuk was removed from the command of the military training ground in 1998. At the moment, it includes not only this cape itself, but also part of the coastal territory, as well as outcrops standing in the sea, called “Ship Rocks” for their unusual shape.

The Pink Lake itself in Crimea is located on Opuk in close proximity to the Black Sea. This body of water is separated from it only by a not too wide sandy embankment.

A little history

Story ( bcnjhbz) near the Pink Lake in Crimea is quite interesting. It belongs to the group of volcanic ones. That is, it was formed a very, very long time ago. In fact, even today its bottom is a dormant volcano. Not so long ago, Pink Lake was part of the Black Sea. However, later the surf brought a lot of sand here. Because of this, an embankment-lintel was formed.

Short description

So, we found out where Pink Lake is in Crimea. It is located near Kerch. Its official name is Koyashskoye. This unusual body of water is quite large in size. Its total area is about 5 hectares. The lake reaches 4 km in length and 2 km in width. You will not be able to swim in this reservoir. Its depth in spring reaches only 1 meter. By autumn, the lake dries up completely. This reservoir is actually very salty. Therefore, practically no living creatures are found in it. The salt concentration in it reaches 350 grams per liter. This is definitely a lot. Koyashskoye is the saltiest body of water on the Crimean peninsula.

The mud in this lake is healing. They are mined and supplied for the treatment of vacationers to local sanatoriums. You won't be able to swim in this lake. However, you can smear yourself with mud on the shore. There is enough water to wash them off.

Why pink?

The main feature of this reservoir that attracts tourists to it is, of course, not its shallow depth or high salt content. Of course, it was not for nothing that the lake was called pink. The water in it really has this color. This body of water looks especially beautiful at sunset. In fact, the name Koyashskoye itself translates as “the lake in which the sun hides.”

In spring, the water in this reservoir has an ugly brown-brown dirty color. However, already in June, with an increase in air temperature, its shade begins to change quickly. This is primarily due to the vital activity of algae breeding in the lake Dunaliella Salina.The beta-carotene it produces gives the water a delicate, juicy pink hue.

When is the best time to go?

In spring, the water in Lake Koyashsky is not very beautiful. But you can admire the surroundings of this reservoir in April-May. At this time, a huge number of tulips bloom along the shores of the lake. They almost cover the local hills with a carpet.

In order toappreciate beautyhimselfPink lake in Crimea, it’s worth coming here in mid-late summer. It is during this period that algae develop most actively, and the water acquires a truly beautiful shade.

Closer to autumn, the lake, as already mentioned, dries up. But even at this time it looks quite impressive. The fact is that the beta-carotene contained in its water turns salt pink.

Later, in the fall, due to rains, the lake begins to fill with water again. At this time of year, the layer in its bowl is not too large - about 2 cm. But because of it, the lake looks like a huge clear mirror. Tourists walking along the pond at this time of year feel like they are floating in the air due to the reflecting clouds.

How to get to Pink Lake in Crimea?

Get to this unusual natural siteon the peninsula you can follow the Feodosia-Kerch highway. At the sign "Marfovo-Marevka",not reaching about 20 km to the city,you need to turn towards the Black Sea. The road ahead will not be very good. You should be prepared for this. Having reached the village of Maryevka, you need to turn straight towards the coast onto a country road. It may not be possible to drive through it in a regular car, as it is heavily rutted. Some part of the journey will most likely have to be covered on foot. But get to the cape by jeepThe dough will turn out without any problems.

Opuk Nature Reserve

Where is the Pink Lake in Crimea located specifically -It's clear. But it’s still not worth going on an excursion to see him spontaneously.Illegal entry into the reserve territoryat Cape Opukprohibited. In order to get into the reserve, you needat firstobtain a pass by first submitting an application to its administration. Hereshouldindicate the purpose of the visit, the number of people wishing to see the cape and their age.You don't need to travel anywhere to apply. Do itYou can, for example, via the Internet. The reserve has its own VKontakte group.

Other Pink Lakes of Crimea

Koyashskoye actually looks very beautiful. However, there are also others in Crimea salt lakes same nice color. In this case, the effect is caused by the same algae. Lakes such as Krasnoi and Staroye, for example, have a pink tint on the peninsula.

Both bodies of water are located on the territoryKrasnoperekopsk City Councilin the west of the peninsula. These lakes also look very impressive.

If you try to search the Internet for information or, especially, photographs about Lake Retba in Senegal, and then want to see a photo of Lake Hillier in Australia, you will be surprised to find that half of the material about these lakes simply overlaps. That is, they write about one lake and photographs of another and vice versa. There you are one example. This is not surprising, since both of these lakes are PINK.

Let's try to sort the information and photos by these lakes so as not to confuse them in the future.

Let's start with a lake in Senegal.

Lake Retba

In the language of the Wolof people, Senegal's main ethnic group, the lake is called Retba. A water mirror with an area of ​​three square kilometers is located near the Cape Verde Peninsula. And this body of water looks like in a fairy tale about a milk river with jelly banks, only here everything is the opposite: the water is pink, like cranberry jelly, but the banks are white, like milk or, more precisely, like salt. But let's start, as they say, from the very beginning.

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Many years ago, the lake was a lagoon connected to the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow channel. Gradually ocean waves they washed sand, which blocked the channel, and the lagoon turned into a salt lake, at first quite deep. However, in the 1970s, droughts began in Senegal, and the lake became very shallow. Now its greatest depth does not exceed three meters.
The water in Retba is really bright pink, and the reason for the unique color is that cyanobacteria live in the lake - the oldest microorganisms that appeared in the Earth’s biosphere 3.5 billion years ago. But it’s not just their advanced age that inspires admiration. These bacteria are one of the few that can survive in the thick brine that is the water of Pink Lake. The salt concentration here is 380 grams per liter, that is, almost one and a half times higher than in the Dead Sea. Salt lies in a thick layer at the bottom of the lake, and thanks to this local population can live practically comfortably – according to African standards, of course.

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Along the entire coastline flat-bottomed boats were located. This picture is reminiscent of the streets of our cities with cars parked on the sidewalk, but each owner of a boat here has a historically assigned place for him, which no one dares to occupy. Boats here are not a luxury and, in general, not even a means of transportation. They are necessary to extract salt. Every year, through joint efforts, people lift about twenty-five thousand tons of salt from the bottom, thereby deepening the lake. If earlier it was possible to ford it, now such walks, “like dry land,” are practically impossible.
Every morning here begins with local men leaving their houses and, stretching, heading towards the lake.

However, calling these buildings houses is only a stretch. And it’s hardly worth calling them shacks either. These are peculiar huts built from improvised materials - reed stalks, car tires, plastic bags... And visitors from neighboring countries (in our opinion, guest workers) live in them. These people leave their native lands and flock to Senegal, because here, on salt mining, you can earn about ten dollars a day - the money, according to local standards, is quite big, in their homeland - in Guinea, Mali, Gambia - they are talking about such a salary couldn't have dreamed of it. However, such happiness does not smile on them for too long, because no one can stand it here for more than three years - the salt water gradually corrodes the skin, and the person becomes covered with painful ulcers.

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So, early in the morning, migrant workers head to their punts, untie them and go out onto the lake expanses. Moving further from the shore, they drop anchor and lubricate their skin with so-called Chinese vegetable oil, which is extracted from the fruits of the tallow tree. If you neglect this simple procedure, then the concentrated saline solution splashing over the side of the boat will corrode the skin almost to the bone in just half an hour.

Jumping over the side of the boat, the miners first use a special device, like a crowbar, to loosen the salt, which covers the bottom of the lake in a dense layer, and then fill the basket with it under water. The next step is to lift the basket and transfer its contents to the boat, after allowing the water to drain. The boat can hold up to 500 kilograms of salt. From the outside it seems surprising that a small boat with such a cargo does not sink. However, in order to sink a boat in the waters of the lake or drown yourself, you have to try very hard - the concentrated solution keeps both the loaded punt and the person afloat.
To earn the coveted ten dollars, a worker must deliver a boat filled with salt to the shore three times during the day. By the way, in order to load 500 kilograms of salt into a boat, it takes an experienced worker at least three hours. Total: nine hours up to your shoulders in brine...

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But then the miners bring the heavy punts to the shore, and then their wives and daughters get down to business. The women's task is to transfer the salt from the boat into basins, carry it a little further from the water and pour it there to dry. And a basin filled with salt, by the way, weighs at least 25 kilograms...
After the salt dries, pebbles and debris are picked out of it and then poured into piles that make the coast of Retba look like an alien landscape. Salt can lie in such piles for several years until a wholesale buyer is found for it. During this time, which initially had a gray color, it becomes dazzling white under the rays of the sun.

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No Senegalese citizen will stoop to become a salt miner. It's hard and thankless work. That's why local residents they buy it in bulk and resell it to other African or European countries. They also happily play the role of guides, bringing tourists to an amazing lake with pink, jelly-like water and white milky, that is, salty, shores.

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Lake Retba is located less than an hour's drive from the capital of Senegal (40 km), on the northwestern coast of the country, Grand Côte, in close proximity to the shores of the Atlantic. It is most convenient to arrive here within organized excursion is a popular attraction and joining a tour is easy.

If you want to arrive at the lake on your own, it makes sense to rent a car with a driver. The most unpretentious tourists can use the minibus service. And if you want to stay here for a few days, a considerable number of hotels in the Grand Côte resort area are at your service.

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Retba is separated from Atlantic Ocean just a strip of low dunes, and underground salt waters The Atlantic generously feeds this reservoir, from which there is no outflow of water. So, over the course of thousands of years, the concentration of salt here increased - and today Lake Retba, in terms of salinity during the dry period from November to June, easily “matches” the popular Dead Sea: the salt content in the water reaches 40%. By the way, the length of the lake is about 2 km, and the depth is no more than 3 meters.

The fantastic pink hue of the water is the result of the vital activity of a special kind of cyanobacteria that feed on salt. These bacteria produce a pink pigment to “attract” a certain spectrum of solar radiation necessary for their life. Well, then the pink pigment saturates the water in the Retba and colors its surface with amazing shades.

Photo 8.

The concentration of salt in Retba is so high that you cannot lie here with a book in your hands on the motionless surface of the lake - the mineral very soon begins to corrode the skin. As for the salt miners, they rub their bodies with shea butter, which prevents the insidious mineral from coming into contact with the surface of the skin.

Photo 9.

And on the other side of the Retba, facing the Atlantic, stretches a ridge of low, graceful dunes. In a word, the landscapes here are truly mesmerizing: snow-white salt mountains, bright pink water surface and golden sand of the Green Peninsula of Senegal.

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This lake is also often called Lac Rose .

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Rubbing their bodies with a special oil that protects them from the harmful effects of incredibly salty water that corrodes the skin, salt miners spend the whole day on the lake. They dive to the bottom, blindly fill baskets with salt, then unload it into a boat and take it to the shore. There, the catch is dumped into heaps, allowed to dry, then washed and sorted, removing silt and sand. Burning out in the sun, the salt from the Pink Lake becomes snow-white, and this is what is brought for sale.

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But few tourists come to admire amazing lake with “bloody” water, they decide to plunge into the colored depths of Lac Rose. They prefer to observe from the side and take a lot of photographs.

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Now let's look at a more effective appearance lake Lake Hillier in Australia.

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On the edge of Middle Island there is a mysterious pink lake surrounded by legends. From above, the shiny surface of pink Lake Hillier resembles the icing on an oblong cake. This lake gives unexpected shades to the wooded corner of the Middle Island. Middle Island is one of 100 small islands, part of the Exploration Archipelago, which stretches along south coast Western Australia. The most mysterious natural attraction of Australia is Lake Hillier and its pink water color.

Photo 2.

A shallow salt lake, approximately only 600 m wide. The white ribbon around it gives the lake an even greater impression of an unearthly landscape. The lake is surrounded on all sides by bright green eucalyptus trees, separated from the ocean only by a narrow strip of white sand dunes.

Until the middle of the 20th century, people were content to explain this phenomenon with the assumption that special bacteria lived in the lake water. In 1950, the pink color of the lake was studied by a group of scientists who hoped to find seaweed - Red algae (Dunaliella salina) - in the salt water of the lake. In very salty water, these algae produce a red pigment that turns other Australian lakes pink, such as the one on the mainland near Esperance. A water sample taken from Lake Hiller did not find any traces of algae, so the color of the lake is still a mystery.

Photo 3.

The first mention of the “pink” lake on Sredny Island dates back to 1802, when the British navigator and hydrographer Matthew Flinders stopped here on his way to Sydney, who became the discoverer of the pink lake.

Over the next few decades, the island was a kind of transit point for whalers, but at the beginning of the 20th century, the attention of visitors finally turned to the miracle of nature, albeit from a very materialistic point of view - they began to mine salt here. However, the business did not prosper for long. Even taking into account the use of special equipment instead of traditional manual labor, the profit was not enough to develop the business, and the strange color of the water did not particularly attract the consumer. Six years later, the entrepreneurs abandoned the project, and since then Hiller has attracted only curious tourists and, occasionally, scientists.

Photo 4.

In general, Lake Hiller is not the only pink lake even in Australia, not to mention bodies of similar colors in other parts of the world. Almost all continents have their own pink lakes - here is Retba in Senegal, Torrevieja in Spain, Canadian Dusty Lake, Masazir in Azerbaijan, Koyash Lake in Crimea, and many others. But of all of them, the Australian Lake Hillier is the only one whose mystery has not yet been solved. After all, the pink color of water is usually given either by special algae, or cyanobacteria, or specific chemical substances in the composition of the forming rocks. And what “paints” Lake Hillier such a bright color? Scientists cannot yet answer this question. The results of studies conducted in 1950 showed the complete absence of any colorful microorganisms, both at the bottom of the reservoir and in the water.

Swimming in this wonderful lake is, of course, possible - but it is at your own risk. After all, there is no trace of any spa baths, which are so common, for example, at the Dead Sea.

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There was a local legend about a sailor who found himself on the island after a shipwreck. Exhausted and wounded, he offered to sell his soul to the devil so that he could save him from this nightmare. At that same moment a man appeared on the shore of the lake and poured a jug of blood and a jug of milk into him. After which he said: “Take a bath, and you will not feel hunger or pain.” He did so, but acquired such strange abilities that the pirates who saved him eventually got scared and threw him back into the sea.

Let me remind you that scientists' studies of the lake water did not produce any results. They did not find any bacteria or minerals that could turn the water pink.

Salt dissolved in lake water can be used for food. Therefore, there were salt developments there for some time. In addition to nutritional benefits, this salt also has medicinal properties, so there is still some truth in the legend about the sailor.

Photo 6.

Lake Hiller is only 600 meters wide. The reservoir is surrounded on all sides by tall, bright green eucalyptus trees, which contrast sharply with the pink water of the lake. The lake is located at the very edge of the island, and only a narrow strip of land, consisting mainly of sand dunes, separates it from the ocean. From a bird's eye view the lake looks most impressive. The fact is that the shores of the lake are bordered by a thin layer of white salt, so from above it seems that the “pink spot” seems to be framed!
Thousands of tourists come to the island every year. They all want to see with their own eyes unusual lake, which looks so great against the backdrop of evergreen eucalyptus trees!

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It would seem, what else can surprise a continent in which almost everything is unusual? But Lake Hillier, with its bright pink water, is an unsolved wonder of stunning Australian nature.

It is located in the Recherche archipelago, on its Middle (Middle), off the southern coast of Australia. Lake Hiller is salty and shallow, and the water in it has a juicy density. When you fly low enough on an airplane, a stunning view opens up, worthy of the brush of a surrealist artist: in the middle of the island lies a bright pink oval with smooth edges, framed by a white “frame” of sea salt and dark green eucalyptus forest. The pink surface of Lake Hillier is often compared to a giant bubble gum or glittery cake frosting.

History of a miracle

Pink Lake in Australia was first mentioned in 1802 in the notes of Matthew Flinders. This famous British hydrographer and navigator stopped at Middle Island during his trip to Sydney.

Then whalers and hunters who lived off the southern coast of the mainland in the 30-40s of the 19th century told stories about this lake.

At the beginning of the last century, they decided to mine salt here, but after six years the activity was stopped. And in the 50s, the first scientific studies of amazing color were carried out.

Now Lake Hillier, Australia, is visited by numerous tourists who want to see for themselves that it really is as pink as in the photographs.

Interesting fact

Water appears bright pink in any quantity, even in a small vessel, regardless of the viewing angle.

Think of it like a sunset, with the soft pink Australian sky setting the orange sun slowly down into the clear pink water!

A little information

The dimensions of the reservoir are quite small - about 600 meters long and 200 meters wide. The amazing pink water is separated from the ocean by a strip of sand covered with a dense eucalyptus forest. A white ring of sea salt has naturally appeared around the lake, adding extra contrast. It is quite difficult to approach the lake due to the dense ring that surrounds the lake. But, nevertheless, you can walk here and even swim in the salty pink water!

Why is it pink?

Scientists believed that Lake Hillier owes its rich pink color to a special Dunaliella salina, which produces a bright red pigment in very salty water. Similar algae have been found in other pink lakes around the world.

Samples from Lake Hillier were carefully studied, but no traces of the supposed algae were found. Research was carried out by various scientists and different time, so there is no doubt about the reliability of the result. The color of the water remains a mystery for now.

Australia loves to amaze the imagination with such things, so pink Lake Hillier has taken its place worthy place among the living wonders of local nature, along with the bright red Shark Harbor, the pinnacle desert of The Pinnacles in national park Numbung, the striped Bungle Bungle Mountains, Kangaroo Island, the Simpsons Desert and the Great Barrier Reef.

Senegal, which is located in West Africa, famous for the extraordinary Pink Lake, its color reminiscent of a strawberry cocktail. Lake Retba is an amazing natural phenomenon, unique in its kind, with a truly rich pink color. It is this fact that made it one of the main attractions of Senegal. What is the secret of this miracle of nature, why does the lake have such a color, and what life stories are associated with it?

In fact, everything is quite simple, the water in Lake Retba is salty to such an extent that it is suitable for the life of only one type of microorganisms, which, in turn, give the color, which varies from pale pink to brown. The salt concentration here is many times higher than in the Dead Sea. The color intensity varies depending on the time of day, namely on the angle of incidence of the sun's rays, as well as on the weather. During drought, the pink color is most pronounced.

Pink Lake is located near the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, 30 km from the capital of Senegal - Dakar. The area of ​​Retba is 3 square kilometers.

There is an entire village located on the shore of the lake, and local residents spend their days extracting salt from the bottom of the lake and pouring it into boats. This work is very hard, but the pay for it is not bad.

Previously, Lake Retba was not a lake at all; once upon a time it was a lagoon. But year after year, the Atlantic surf brought sand, which subsequently caused the disappearance of the channel connecting the lagoon with the ocean. For many years the lake was unremarkable. But in the 70s, there was a severe drought in Senegal, the Retba became shallow, and the extraction of salt, which lay in a large layer at the bottom, became quite a profitable business.

Nowadays people extract salt from the lake, standing shoulder-deep in the water, but about 20 years ago there was so little of it that it was possible to walk. By extracting huge amounts of salt from the bottom of the Pink Lake, people very quickly make it deeper. In some places the bottom level dropped by three or more meters.

Video: AROUND THE WORLD: Pink Lake Retba