This Deadly Lake Turns Animals Into Ghostly Statues

A beautiful lake in Tanzania hosts an array of flamingos, water birds, tilapia, and algae. Yet at the shores of it's still waters lay the calcified bodies of animals that died in it's depths.

The bodies of the mostly birds and bats look as though they were instantly turned to stone, though there's a less macabre explanation. Lake Natron is a shallow lake in Tanzania where the waters are extremely alkaline with a ph of 10.5. For reference, a normal freshwater lake is around 6-8 ph and ammonia is around 11. Obviously, these aren't easily swimmable waters.

Though the water is harsh enough to burn the skin of animals (or ill advised humans), many creatures have adapted to the alkaline and happily live on the lake.

High levels of sodium carbonate create the high alkaline content, as the lake is solely fed from hot springs and run off from nearby hills. Since the lake doesn't feed into any other lakes, streams, or oceans, the mineral content stays high. If that isn't inhospitable enough, the high heat of the desert and shallow waters mean that Lake Natron can get up to 107 degrees.

Despite all that, the water isn't immediately deadly. All the birds and bats that wound up calcified on the shore didn't die simply from exposure to the lake. Only animals that wind up dying in the water will end up as ghostly effigies. Basically, if an animal is already sick or injured and decides to take one last swim, that's the only way they'll get the statue treatment. 

Once dead and in the water, the bodies are subject to the super high levels of sodium carbonate. Since sodium carbonate was used to preserve mummies in Egypt, it's not hard to figure out how the birds end up frozen in time.

Photographer Nick Brandt found these pristine bodies and was inspired by their eerie beauty. He put the birds in lifelike positions, but didn't alter their forms in any other way. The results are absolutely gorgeous photos of the dead/alive creatures.

Brandt published his photos in the book "Across the Ravaged Land," that featured the lake and it's inhabitants.

Lake Natron is a strikingly alluring place that shows the extreme adaptability of nature and the peace and beauty in death. 

Would you ever want to vacation at Lake Natron? Tell us in the comments all about the weird/beautiful things you've seen around the world.