Fish and Wildlife Service staff at Kealia Pond initially thought algae was causing the lake’s color, but that turned out not to be the case. They now suspect that so-called halobacteria are the culprit. Whether this is indeed the case is being investigated in the lab.
Press agency AP shares images of the pink pond on X, formerly Twitter:
Extremely salty
Halobacteria thrive in conditions common to other organisms be too extreme, reports The Guardian. The salinity of the water in the salt marsh is currently twice as high as the salinity in seawater. Due to the drought, there is no fresh water flowing into Kealia Pond.
Employees of the nature reserve have never experienced this before. The fact that tourists now come for the water instead of the native water birds takes some getting used to. The birds themselves do not seem to be bothered by the pink water.
2023-11-11 20:14:31
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