Pink Lakes are pretty fascinating to see. Not because they appear mysteriously poisonous or like boiling water. It may seem like a lake on some alien planet to some of us. There are a lot of explanations given on the colour of such lakes.
So, the question: ‘how many pink lakes are there around the world?’ made me think. Hence, I started doing some research and found quite a staggering result. Before we look at the number of different pink coloured lakes across the world, I needed to know what makes a lake pink in colour. To know this, let us check out the video from Sci Show- He has explained this pretty well. I have understood it; go ahead watch the video and let me know if, “you can understand the same way I did”.
There are a lot of microbes present in the saltwater lake, which contribute to the colour that a pink lake has.
49 Pink Lakes are discovered around the world till now
I have checked several pink lakes and most of them are popular tourist destinations.
Apart from being beautiful pink is there any use of that salty water?
It would be better to say salt is the resource, secondly they drive a decent amount of tourists. Especially for the lakes that remain pink for a long time or all year round, this helps the local communities.
- Lake Retba in Senegal
- Lake Hillier in West Australia
- Salt Ponds San Francisco bay
- Las coloradas Mexico
- Lake Dimboola
- Las salinas de Torrevieja, spain
- Hutt lagoon, Australia
- Lake Natron in Tanzania (looks more reddish)
- Sivas salt lagoon in Russia
- Lake Burlinskoye in Russia
- Tuz Gola Turkey
- Lake Eyre South, Southern Australia
- Lake Bumbunga Australia
- Dusty Rose lake in Canada
- Masazir Lake, Azerbaijan
- Quairading pink lake in Australia
- Laguna Colorada in Bolivia (more reddish & orange)
- Champagne pool in New Zealand
- Lake Meningie in Australia
- Le Salin de Gruissan in France
- Spencer Lake in Australia
- Pink lake of Al Suwaih in Oman
- Al Jazir Pink Lake of Oman
- Devil’s Bath pool in New Zealand
- Chot El Djerid in Tunisia (changes colour)
- Lake Koyaskoe in Ukraine (changes colour based on season)
- Great Salt Lake in Utah
- Salty Lagoon in Jeddah Saudi Arabia.
- Pink lake of Walvis Bay in Namibia
- Salt lake at Shanxi province in China
- Lake Bursol in Russia
- Ozero Kuchukskoye in Russia
- Krasnovishnevoye Ozero in Russia (red cherry Lake)
- Koryakovskoye Ozero in Kazakhstan
- Bol. Azhbulat in Kazakhstan
- Lonar Lake in India (reddish/pink)
- Maharloo Lake in Iran
- Pink lake of Ras al khaimah (UAE)
- Lake Crosbie in South Australia
- Lake Kenyon in South Australia
- Lake Becking in South Australia
- Lake Macdonell in South Australia
- Lake Hart in South Australia
- Lake Gairdner in South Australia
- Lake Hanson in South Australia
- Lake Hardy in South Australia
- Sebkhet de Sidi El Hani (Tunisia)
- Sebkha Of Moknine (Tunisia)
- Sebkhet El Rharra (Tunisia)
- Sasyk-Sivash lake near Yevpatoria (Crimea)*
- Koyashs’ke lake (Crimea)*
- Stare lake (Crimea)*
- Yanhul lake*
- Henyches’ke lake on Arabatskaya Strelka*
- Pink Lake between Kherson Oblast & Crimea*
Pink lakes in Europe
This lake is a Sasyk-Sivash lake near Yevpatoria. This lake faces the Black Sea. Located in Crimea (Сасык-Сиваш), it manages to attract people. As our long research continues, we find a few standard points here.
This point indicates that most pink lakes are close to the sea or beachside. Also, we noticed the islands have these types of pink lakes by their border areas around the ocean in the majority. However, there are a few who are slightly off.
Koyashs’ke lake (озеро Кояшское) is another such lake based in the same country. You can find this in the eastern region of Ukraine.
Stare lake (озеро Старое) and Yanhul lake, both are close to the Krasnoperekopsk town. Another Pink lake is much more expansive in Kherson Oblast and Crimea. There is no specific name given to it other than the one we mentioned.
Lakes of South Australia that are salty go pink seasonally
There are plenty of Pink or Pink tinted lakes in the Southern part of Australia. We can see them drying up, turning pink seasonally as well.
Many Pink Lakes in Southern Australia are also close to each other. They also look like pockets of water from the Ariel view.
Lake Crosbie, Lake Kenyon and Lake Hardy are pretty close to one- another. There is especially a Pink Lakes road, and you could see these lakes as you pass through this road.
Lake Gairdner has a Campground and Car park a bit further down. Lake Crosbie also has a Campground for campers. We can learn from local guides from google that help update the information on the colour and condition of some of the pink lakes here.
That’s how you can even locate them. Google maps may not always have the right colour at the right time. Having such facilities makes it a bit easy for the travellers to visit these sites without much hassle. However, it is worth noting that you won’t be able to get network coverage at some of these destinations.
Some visitors have commented on not seeing the water or the pink colour. It could be possibly due to the time of the year they visit.
Are there any Pink lakes in the middle east?
Yes, the following countries are known to have salty pink lakes:
- Oman
- Iran
- UAE
Earlier, we had mentioned Lake Suwaih and not the other one, Al Jazir. In an interview of a local resident by the Times of Oman, we understood that pink lakes are not new to this place as per the statement mentioned in their 15 October 2018 article states “Pink Lakes began to reappear…“.
Iran also has a lake that is Lake Urmia, which turns red due to the high salt concentration in the lake bed & it is believed to turn red due to Dunaliella Salina. NASA’s images from 2016 showed the lake turning red from green. However, the most recent google maps 2020 of the Lake area show the lake is drying up a lot.
A newly discovered Pink Lake of Ras al Khaimah
It is located in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) in Ras Al Khaimah at Al Saraya islands. You can visit this place in the Al Rams Beach area close to the Al rams Horse stable. Important information is that this pink lake was in the news in January 2021. A teenage student named Ammar Al Farsi in the UAE seems to have discovered this pink lake.
Does Australia have a high number of pink salt lakes than anywhere else?
Yes, the research so far provides this information. Especially South Australia and Western Australia have these pink lakes. If you go through our list here, you can find seven pink lakes in Australia.
Is it a coincidence or something that needs more investigation? Is it a sign of catastrophe or something else that could affect a specific type of land?
“We haven’t got a clue.”
Are these pink lakes suitable for fishing?
No, The high salt concentration in the lake makes it impossible for fishes to survive. There have been no known instances of fishing in these lakes. However, there could be microorganisms found in these lakes due to their ability to survive harsh conditions.
Does this mean easy access to Salt production everywhere?
The answer is No! Reason for this is that we already have high salty water in the sea, and if the lakes start getting salty at such a speed, it is a cause of concern. It may be due to climate change.
It appears to be a hypothesis as we haven’t established any link between them. We want someone to write in the comment if any research has linked salt lakes to the climate change phenomenon.
Salinity levels are high always in these ponds possibility of those lakes that change their colour may be that the levels could be fluctuating.
Points to consider if you go ahead with further research in this area.
Number one: Climate Change
Number two: Earth’s rotation (Slowing and gaining back)
Number three: Possible Shift of the Earth’s orbit
These workers can extract approximately one tonne of salt in about 6 to 7 hours a day. These men in Senegal pull out the salt from the pink lake, after removing it appears to be blackish. After leaving it in the open sun and drying it, iodine is added and then packaged to the West African countries.
Is bacteria the real reason for the pink lake’s no fishing?
Various factors combined make this situation. The presence of algae called Dunaliella salina produces a pigment called carotenoid. It is the same that we see in carrots, known as carotenes.
The ones found in these salt lakes are not the same, as their intensity varies. Even if so, their explanation isn’t clear whether they are the same or different. They remain after those who can’t survive the high salinity, making the saltwater look pink or reddish.
The sunlight or volcanic land becomes instrumental in normal circumstances, giving it a specific colour. It could be due to the sunlight reflection on water at a particular time; however, this is not the case if you manage to see pink colour all the time.
The salt content in these lakes are high, the same as the dead sea and hence not all water bodies can survive in such high saline water.
In the case of Lake Natron in Tanzania, it has a high Caustic concentration.
Australia has more pink lakes than any other country at this moment.
Algae and micro organisms can survive in difficult conditions too. Live science has also written an explanation on the reason of lake going pink.
The Salt lakes colour intensity
In some countries the pink colour changes based on a certain time of the year. However in some countries there colour appears to be really bright pink. So we can say Pink hue or lighter red colours are mostly found to be making this list of shades of pink salt lakes called pink lakes.
Although, as mentioned earlier it is only few that change their colour. We still DO NOT have any explanation on why is this phenomenon is increasing as the time passes.
How many pink lakes are there in the world?
The answer to this question will vary based on the time of the year when certain lakes go through a cycle of change in colour. This could be due to the changes in the number of minerals & bacteria present in the water.
There is still no explanation yet if the climate change effect that has led a fast-paced way to drought in certain countries is the culprit of this strange phenomenon.
If you know of any such studies done on pink lakes then please share it so it can help everyone.
