LAKE NATRON: THE LAKE THAT WILL PETRIFY YOU

It is said that there is a lake in Tanzania that petrifies every animal that submerges in its deadly water. Is that true?

If you tape Nick Brandt, Lake Natron in Google, you will be shown an amazing collection of balck-and-white photographs of a decadent grey moor. Probably it willl remind you somehow of a 19th century poem, or even of death. It is grey, dark and quite sinister.The photo is dominated by a prettified animal, probably a bird. Also grey. Spooky, isn’t it? It feels cold: as if a death had arrived there like a deadly breeze.

But if you only type Lake Natron in Google (and you omit the pictures by Brandt) you will see a bright red lake surrounded by yellow hills and a bright blue sky. You will also see flamingos, lots of flamingos. I’m not cheating you. It is just the same lake, the same époque. I will also add that the photos by Brandt are not false, nor retouched. 
Lake Natron is a salt lake located in North Tanzania, In the border with Kenya. It covers between 600 and 100 square kilometers depending on the season It is very near to a volcano: Doinyo Lengai (translated as God’s Mountain). This is a major factor. The volcano releases minerals and compounds to the lake: chlorine, sodium, magnesium and sodium carbonate.They are all very alkaline compounds. This sodium carbonate is very abundant in the lake. Sodium carbonate is a salt that, in reaction with water, creates a very alkaline solution. This salt helps the process of conservation of corpses –in ancient Egypt it was used in the process of mummification. This solution rises the PH of the lake’s water up to 10.5. Taking into account that caustic soda’s PH is 13.5 we can assume that this is an extremely alkaline (and hostile) environment. This alkaline water scalds and ocular damages to undapted animals, but that’s all. No animal is petrified by the lake, although some people argue that it does, especially after watching Brandt’s work. The animals were not killed by the lake, they died accidentally, naturally… And the compounds of the lake petrified (calcified) the corpses.

The environment is extremely alkaline, so Whow can flamingos live in there? Well it also has a scientyfical explanation: The redish color that paints the lake is not a mineral, but organic. An algae called Spirulina (adapted to the alkaline water) releases red pigment that paint the water. this red pigment attract the 2,5 million flamingos that live in the lake. They are well adapted to the environment, and they feed on the Spirulina. As well s they have a great place to brred, safe from predators. To avoid the alkaline water they stand on the mud or salt islets.

The artist also had a trick. He did not find the corpses as they appear in the photos. He found the calcified animals on the shore of the lake but he admitted that he moved the corpses to create an illusion, and I think it was quite effective.