"Pink" Lake Hillier in Western Australia

A pink lake... Can you believe it? Although it may be difficult to see the actual pink color in the first Google Earth image above, Lake Hillier is known for it's bright pink color and extremely high salt content. You can definitely see a major contrast in color between the lake and the Great Southern Ocean that borders the Southwestern Coastline of Australia.

Scientists have reported that Lake Hillier gets its vibrant pink color from a combination of harmless bacteria called Halobacteria, an algae called Dunaliella salina, and its extremely high salt content. The red algae combined with the salt produces the bright, bubble gum pink color, and the bacteria keeps the color permanent all year long. The sand that surround the lake is known to have a 93% salt content. The algae is known to be used in many cosmetic items to help exfoliate and brighten the skin. Swimming is allowed in Lake Hillier as long as people are cautious of ingesting the water.

There are actually seven other "pink" lakes around the world that are similar to Lake Hillier. There is Lake Rebta in Senegal, Pink Hutt Lagoon in Eastern Australia, Lake Goldfield in Northern Australia, Pink Lake of Salina de Torrevieja in Spain, Dusty Rose Lake in Canada, Pink Masazir Lake in Azerbaijan, and Lake Hyderbad in India. Locals often visit the lakes to extract salt to use in their foods, cosmetics, trade, and other everyday necessities. Many people thrive off the salt that is produced by the lakes, and hundreds of people have reported their travels to these lakes to see the interesting pink color.

However, there have been some reports of pollution that appears to gather around the beaches of the lake due to high tides from the ocean. Oil spills have also been reported that have caused salt extractions become difficult throughout some parts of the year. Because of the high salt content of the lake and the ocean, not many animals can survive in this area since fresh water is limited. With that being said, the island is left without much diversity among species according to biologist, George F. Walkins (Walkins, 2007). Although the lake seems to provide a number of benefits for locals when it comes to salt extraction, it also plays a negative role among the animal populations on the island as a whole. This ultimately effect the how the environment can sustain itself if there are so few animals to occupy the land.

Pink Lake of Salina de Torrevieja, Spain

Pink Lake of Salina de Torrevieja, Spain