A lake that turns birds into stone figures

Weather of Arabia - Lake Natron in Tanzania is one of the quietest lakes in Africa, but it is also the source of some of the most imaginative photos ever taken, images that look as if live animals were instantly transformed into stone forms.

What is Lake Natrun?

Lake Natron is located in northern Tanzania, near the border with Kenya, and the lake contains alkaline water with a high pH of 10.5, which is so caustic that it can burn the skin and eyes of animals that do not adapt to it. The alkalinity of the water comes from sodium carbonate and other minerals that flow To the lake from the surrounding hills, and the active volcano near the lake, which spews a rare type of lava rich in sodium and potassium carbonate (Natron), and releases it into the water, and this mixture of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate is the main component that was used in the embalming of the ancient Egyptians, This made the lake like a pool of substances that keep the bodies of living things from decomposing.

Lake Natrun is one of two alkaline lakes in that region of East Africa, the other lake is Bahi Lake, and both are terminal lakes that do not flow into any river or sea, except that they are fed by hot springs and small rivers, and Lake Natron is a very shallow lake that does not increase Its depth is about 3 meters, and its width varies according to the water level, which changes due to high evaporation rates, which increases the concentration of salts and minerals, and due to the presence of shallow lakes in a hot climate, their water temperature can reach 41 degrees Celsius.

The fact that birds transform into stone models at the lake

In 2013, wildlife photographer Rick Brandt snapped pictures of dead birds that looked like stone models, and despite some media reports describing the lake as turning birds into stone models, these birds did not die and turn into stones after coming into contact with the lake's water directly, in Indeed, alkaline waters of Lake Natron supports ecosystem thriving salt marshes, land wetlands , freshwater, a flamingos Flamingoes) suitable environment (and other birds that live in wet land, which is also a suitable environment for tilapia and algae fed by large flocks of Flamingos.

What is the story of the pictures of the stone models?

The alkaline chemical composition of lake water, which is close to ammonia (and this gives the lake its pink color) may cause birds that dive in the lake water and do not come out, become calcified and covered with a solid stone crust, as some birds see the lake surface as if it is a reflective mirror, so they dive in by mistake .

Wildlife photographer Rick Brandt was one of the first to document this phenomenon, as he discovered several stone birds and animals, which appeared on the lake shore in the dry season when the waters receded, where he found remains of flamingos and other animals covered with sediments of sodium carbonate, which preserved their bodies and determined their details. Significantly, the sodium carbonate sediments acted as a kind of preservative for these animals after they died in the waters of Lake Natron.

Rick Brandt mentioned in his book that he found several types of dead birds and bats along the shore of Lake Natron, the cause of their death was not known, but it was probably the water that contains a very high content of soda and salt, so Brandt took these creatures as he found them on the beach, and then put them In poses that simulate themselves as if they were alive, and these photos were taken.

How did the flamingos live around Lake Natron?

During the breeding season, more than two million pink flamingos use the shallow lake as a primary habitat for reproduction in Africa, where the toxic lake waters provide a safe haven from predators, and there are nests for flamingos built on small islands that form in the lake during the dry season.

Flamingos or flamingos thrive in salty lakes because of their tough skin, and their scaly legs, which prevent burns, and they can drink fresh water from nearby springs or lava water at the lake's edges, and if fresh water is not available, flamingos can filter salt water with special glands in cavities The nose, in addition to its strong stomachs, which enables it to eat the toxic algae found throughout the lake, and this is what makes Lake Natron the ideal place to raise and protect its young.

However, the tranquility of Lake Natron - and its residents of flamingos - is threatened by a proposed hydroelectric power station on the Iwasu Njero River, the main river that feeds the lake, since the lake is isolated, there are no protections for the lake or the threatened flamingos.