Do you think of what color a lake might be; blue, brown, black maybe even green may come to mind. But I think you would ever associate the pink color with water. The captivating pink lake is not a trick of the light, and it retains it’s hue when removed, but the origin of it’s bubble gum aesthetics remains a mystery the science community is still trying to solve. best guess right now is that it has to do with the high salt levels in the water. Being that Lake Hillier is 10 times saltier than the ocean, it is the perfect breeding ground for the salt loving micro-algae Dunaliella Salina. These tiny little guys produce pigment compounds that absorb light like Beta Carotene which is the same kind of stuff that makes carrots orange and some cabbages purple.
This algae grows in extreme conditions. As its name suggests, it particularly likes saline environments. It is found in lakes, swamps and lagoons with high salt concentrations near the Whyalla region of Australia.
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