They can drink the freshwater from nearby springs or geysers at the edges of the lake, and if they’re desperate enough, they can even filter saltwater with special glands in their nasal cavities. Flamingoes thrive in salty lakes because of their tough skin and scaly legs which prevent burns. Well, it’s not that simple unfortunately. So if flamingoes can handle it, couldn’t we?
Turns out, the lake’s toxic waters provide a safe haven from predators, making it perfect flamingo flocking grounds.
Despite so many birds dying in Lake Natron, there is a particular species flourishing. Kind of like that one time in the office. He theorized, since the lake is so mirror-like and reflective, the birds must have flown right into it. He discovered several stone birds and other unlucky animals in the dry season when the water had receded. In 2013, wildlife photographer Nick Brandt was one of the first to document this phenomenon. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Any birds that happen to take a dive and don’t make it out become calcified in a hardened, stonelike husk. The whole chemical composition is extremely alkaline, with pH levels of 10.5 close to matching ammonia (NH3). Releasing into the water, this mix of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate were key ingredients once used in Egyptian mummification, creating the perfect preservative in lake form. The volcano spews a rare kind of lava rich in sodium (Na) and potassium carbonate (K2CO3), called Natrocarbonatite, or Natron for short. Yet what makes it especially lethal, is its close proximity to the active volcano, Ol Doinyo Lengai. This allows it to soak up all that salty desert rain. Much like the Dead Sea, this Tasmanian lake doesn’t run off into any oceans or rivers. What makes Lake Natron’s water so dangerous? What kind of creatures live there? Could you survive if you fell in?īefore we take the plunge, we’d better take a look at what Lake Natron is made of. Have you ever heard of Medusa? The snake-haired greek monster who turns people to stone with a single glance? Well, she might just be a myth, but there is an area so deadly that it could actually turn you to stone.
0 kommentar(er)
