Viraldice: This Deadly Lake in Africa Turns Animals to Calcified Stone-Like Statues

t first glance, Lake Natron in northern Tanzania looks like any other beautiful body of water. Fluffy pink flamingos stand in groups on the shore, and towering mountains provide a picturesque backdrop. But upon closer inspection, something isn't quite right about this lake, and it's doing something truly disturbing to any animal that dare enter it.

Keep reading to discover what's really going on with the deceivingly beautiful Lake Natron, and why it's known as the "Petrifying Lake."

Lake Natron serves as a breeding grown for the Lesser Flamingo, as well as various types of bacteria and algae.

Other than that, it’s inhospitable to living creatures.

The reason for this?

It’s a Soda Lake or alkaline lake, which means it has extraordinarily high concentrations of carbonate salts.

“The water has an extremely high soda and salt content, so high that it would strip the ink off my Kodak film boxes within a few seconds," said photographer Nick Brandt in his new photo book 'Across the Ravaged Land'.

It’s also a shocking blood-red color, which it gets from the bacteria that inhabit it.

 

The temperature is nearly boiling and can get up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit according to the New Scientist.

The pH of Lake Natron is 10.5, which can cause horrible burns to the eye and skin of animals that haven’t adapted to such high levels.

More than 2 million Lesser Flamingos use the alkaline water as their primary breeding location.

They build their nests on small islands during the dry season.