And while the lake at Westgate Park on the outskirts of Melbourne may seem to be unnatural, it is indeed, a natural phenomenon says Dr. Mark Norman, Parks Victoria chief conservation scientist.
Dr. Norman said that green algae at the bottom of the lake is responding to the extreme summer and high salt content, according to CTV News Canada. “It’s completely natural. We often get comments that it looks like an industrial accident of pink paint.”
“The bright pink lake pops up most summers and is made by a native single-celled plant known as Dunalliela that responds to extreme levels of salt in this lake,” he said, adding that “hot weather makes the salt concentrate further.”
The pink color is the result of photosynthesis, the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water, and while photosynthesis in plants usually involves the green pigment chlorophyll, the algae in the Melbourne lake produce beta-carotene, a red pigment.
The lake attracts about 140 different bird species as well as many visitors, especially when it changes color. Dr. Norman says that while the pink color is harmless, he wouldn’t recommend taking a swim in the waters. “It’s so salty and muddy on the bottom that you would come out looking like a frosted rum ball, especially when you dried,” he said, according to the BBC.
This strange, but naturally occurring phenomenon can also be seen at Spain’s Salina de Torrevieja, Canada’s Dusty Rose Lake and Senegal’s Lake Retba. In Australia, this natural occurring sight can be seen in Victoria’s Murray-Sunset National Park and Western Australia’s Lake Hillier.
