Bizarre lake in Tanzania instantly turns animals that touch it into ‘STONE’

The idea of ​​a lake instantly turning animals that touch it to stone may sound like a concept from Greek mythology.

But it’s a reality in Tanzania, where animals live in fear of one of the world’s deadliest lakes.

Lake Natron is an important breeding ground for less endangered flamingos, but animals risk becoming frozen forever in the salt if they dare to approach the shores.

Bacteria, which give the water its blood-red hue, are some of the only organisms that can tolerate the average heat of 26°C, deadly salt concentration and alkalinity.

Bodies that fall into the water decay quickly, while those that fall on them edge are “encrusted with salt” that “lasts forever,” according to ecologist David Harper of the University of Leicester.

Lake Natron is an important breeding ground for less endangered flamingos, but animals risk being frozen forever in the salt if they dare to approach the shores

The lake’s hostile conditions can be attributed to the nearby Ol Doinyo Lengai – also known as the Mountain of God – the only active volcano to emit natrocarbonatite.

These flow into the lake through stream channels that cut through the volcano, contributing to its raw alkalinity of over pH 10.

Only flamingos, which eat the water’s nutrient-rich cyanobacteria, flock to the area to mate.

But even they cannot escape the brutal conditions of the salt lake and can fall victim to coastal crusting.

In his book about the lake, titled “Across the Ravaged Land,” photographer Nick Brandt wrote, “Unexpectedly, I found the creatures—birds and bats of all kinds—washed up along the shore of Lake Natron.

“No one knows exactly how they die, but… the water has an extremely high level of soda and salt, so high that it would take the ink off my Kodak film boxes in seconds.”

Aside from corpses, Lake Natron has played a role in preserving history as far back as 19,000 years ago.

In 2016, geologists found more than 400 human footprints in the mudflats of Lake Natron’s shore.

Only flamingos, which eat the water’s nutrient-rich cyanobacteria, flock to the area to mate

“Immediately after the footprints were pressed into the wet mud and ash, the wet sediments dried out and hardened,” geologist Dr. Cynthia Luitkius-Pierce of Appalachian State University previously told MailOnline.

The mud that preserved these footprints is believed to have washed away from the Ol Doinyo Lengai, as large amounts of ash were detected.

It is then thought that the surface would have dried out in days or even hours, preserving the imprints.

She added: “They record traces of our ancestors, their activity and behavior during the last Pleistocene along the edge of Lake Natron in Tanzania.”