African Lake Turns Creatures Into Statues

[Y2Khaos]

This is soooo creepy. It's been suggested that the waters reflection makes them crash. Then extremely high soda and salt content of the water causes them to calcify.

How fucked up is this,

Other than serving as a breeding area for the endangered Lesser Flamingo and as a home to certain kinds of algae and bacteria, Lake Natron is inhospitable to life.

Blood-red from the bacteria that live in it, the salt lake is steaming hot, with temperatures that can reach up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit

Deadly Lake Turns Animals Into Ghostly 'Statues'​

More photos here:

Spoiler

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

Wow. Look at the lake. Doesn't look like Earth.

 

[Thai Domi]

Maybe there's a Lady of the Lake...

Spoiler

 

[highkicknomore]

Wow. Look at the lake. Doesn't look like Earth.

Is dis real life?

 

[Zookeeper Gabe]

Thanks obamacare.

 

[Scuba]

Shit that's creepy
Has the lake been explored before?

 

[heavyarms21]

Ah natures cool wonders

 

[Lustercross]

Way to go! Now I'm scared!

 

[Randy Marsh]

Thanks obamacare.

Obamacare sucks! It's all about the Affordable Care Act!

[YT]sx2scvIFGjE[/YT]

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

Damn. Any of those images would make great heavy metal album covers.

Thanks obamacare.

If only they had it in Africa, those poor birds would have been saved--for free!!!

 

[Harbinger]

I'm confused about how the river does that to the animals on branches.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

It's beautiful, in a way.

 

[Y2Khaos]

I wish I knew where I could buy one without going to Tanzania. I totally would.

 

[Y2Khaos]

I'm confused about how the river does that to the animals on branches.

They were placed there for the photos.

 

[Spawned_Fighter]

wow, thats awesome and bizzare

 

[Ah Man]

Shit that's creepy
Has the lake been explored before?

So, I actually briefly worked in Shompole conservancy. Blisteringly hot.

When I saw the OP I wondered if it might be Lake Magadi, but apparently it's Natron. I never made it quite to Natron, though the buddy I was working with had been there several times.

That whole area is a certain sort of awesome, though death is one of its prevailing characteristics. From starvation to brutal duststorms to, apparently, petrified animals. Cool place. Kind of miserable because of the heat, though.

Interesting people, too. Even though Magadi (a reasonably large town) is just a bit North, the area is socially very remote and the Maasai there are very traditional. It's like a snapshot in time.

 

[CardonaLJ**]

read just the thread title......this came to mind!

 

[Stringer Bell]

Crazy, "blood-red." I've read about this somewhere else before, but coming up on that landscape must be really insane.

 

[Stringer Bell]

arrrgh Senzo beat me to it.

 

[Zuni]

I'm confused about how the river does that to the animals on branches.

The animals fall or crash into the water and die there. Some photographer retrieved the bodies and posed them on branches for the photos.