Africa is home to a terrifying lake that turns animals into stone, making it one of the deadliest bodies of water in the world.
Lake Natron in Tanzania is not like any other lake. While it is a breeding ground for flamingos, the bacteria that spread there can be fatal for some species.
The lake is instantly recognisable because the bacteria gives the water a blood-red colour.
The bacteria can tolerate the 26C heat on an average day. But the lake’s salt concentration and alkalinity mean that bodies decompose rapidly.
Animals that fall into the water are quickly encrusted in the salt, which “stays forever” according to experts.
These unforgiving conditions are caused by a nearby volcano named Ol Doinyo Lengai.
The volcano is also known as the ‘Mountain of God’.
Photographer Nick Brandt wrote a book about the lake titled ‘Across the Ravaged Land’. In it, he said: “I unexpectedly found the creatures — all manner of birds and bats — washed up along the shoreline of Lake Natron.
“No one knows for certain exactly how they die, but … 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.”
In 2016, geologists found more than 400 human footprints in the mudflats of Lake Natron’s shore dating back as far as 19,000 years ago.
The area surrounding Lake Natron is inhabited by the Maasai people, and they consider it to be sacred.
According to experts, the ancient Egyptians used the lake to mummify the bodies of the deceased.
