Pink Lake | |
---|---|
Location | Goldfields-Esperance, Western Australia |
Coordinates | 33°50′43″S121°49′40″E / 33.84528°S 121.82778°E |
Type | Salt lake |
Basin countries | Australia |
Max. length | 4 km (2 mi) |
Max. width | 2 km (1 mi) |
Surface area | 99 ha (245 acres) [1] |
Surface elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
References | [1] |
Pink Lake (previously known as Lake Spencer) is a salt lake in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. [2] Although historically the water in the lake was visibly pink, as of 2017 it had not been pink for over ten years. [3] Salt concentration is vital to Pink Lake's pink hue, and Pink Lake may turn pink again as conditions change. It lies about 3 kilometres (2 mi) west of Esperance and is bounded to the east by the South Coast Highway.
The dynamics of why a lake turns pink are very complex. External changes and weather conditions can affect the colour of the lake. Despite previous indications that the lake is no longer a pink hue, it has been reported as recently as May 2024 that the colour of the lake water remains a vivid pink.
The distinctive colour of the water changes is a result of green alga Dunaliella salina , halobacterium Halobacterium cutirubrum , and/or high concentration of brine prawn. Once the lake water reaches a salinity level greater than that of sea water, the temperature is high enough and adequate light conditions are provided, the alga begins to accumulate the red pigment beta carotene. [4] The pink halobacterium grow in the salt crust at the bottom of the lake. [5]
It is believed that the construction of the South Coast Highway and a rail line altered the flow of water into the lake reducing its salinity which is why (as of 2017) it no longer appears pink. [3]
In 1848 explorer John Septimus Roe named the waterway Lake Spencer after Sir Richard Spencer, a Resident Magistrate in Albany who contributed to the early formation of the colony of Western Australia. Lake Warden, adjacent, is recorded as having been named after Sir Richard Spencer's wife, Lady Ann Warden Spencer.
The Lake has displayed a distinct pink hue in the past and was colloquially referred to as Pink Lake until 1966 when the Shire President, Cr W S Paterson submitted a request to the Geographic Names Committee which was successful and resulted in Lake Spencer officially becoming Pink Lake. For many years Pink Lake was a tourist attraction in the Esperance region with the surrounding area, an arterial road and local businesses adopting the name.
Because tourists who visit Esperance to see the Pink Lake are disappointed not to see a pink lake, there have been proposals to either change the name of the lake and the town back to Lake Spencer or to find a way to alter the salinity so that the lake appears pink once again. [3]
Lake Hillier is located on Middle Island in the Recherche Archipelago off the coast of Cape Arid, east of Esperance. The Lake is well known for its bright pink hue that contrasts with the deep blue of the ocean. The Island is managed by the Western Australian Government and is accessible by boat and air.
Historically Pink Lake was the terminal lake in the Lake Warden wetland system, where water from the central suite of lakes (Wheatfield, Woody and Windabout) and Lake Warden would periodically flush into Pink Lake, bringing accumulated salts into the environment.
Increasing salt concentrations combined with decreasing water levels from evaporation during summer trigger the appearance of the pink hue that can be seen in lakes across the country. Pink Lake lost its connection to Lake Warden and the eastern lakes with the construction of the railway line and South Coast Highway.
Commercial salt mining, which began in 1896 and ceased in 2007 reduced salt levels in the lake. Further reductions to the lake's salt concentration was caused by freshwater entering the system, through a combination of surface water inflow and increased groundwater inflow due to clearing in the catchment area associated with nearby subdivisions.
Prior to salt production the lake's environment was investigated in the 1980s. [6] Table salt is produced in solar ponds at the eastern end of the lake. [7] The company WA Salt Supply produce water softening salt, coarse salt and sheepskin salt at the Esperance site. The salt is kiln dried, crushed and bagged at the site before being distributed. [8]
The lake has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area because it usually supports significant numbers of hooded plovers and sometimes over 1% of the world population of banded stilts. It has had many migrant and native birds. Between 1997 and 2006, populations ranging between 12 and 12,000 of the banded stilt were recorded. There was a population of between 5 and 68 of the hooded plovers from 1995 to 2005. [9]
Lake Torrens is a large ephemeral, normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia. After sufficiently extreme rainfall events, the lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf.
Lake Barlee is an intermittent salt lake. With a surface area of 1,980 square kilometres (764 sq mi), it is the second largest lake in Western Australia.
The banded stilt is a nomadic wader of the stilt and avocet family, Recurvirostridae, native to Australia. It belongs to the monotypic genus Cladorhynchus. It gets its name from the red-brown breast band found on breeding adults, though this is mottled or entirely absent in non-breeding adults and juveniles. Its remaining plumage is pied and the eyes are dark brown. Nestling banded stilts have white down, unlike any other species of wader.
Lake Macleod is a marine salt lake in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of the port and regional centre of Carnarvon.
Dunaliella salina is a type of halophile unicellular green algae especially found in hypersaline environments, such as salt lakes and salt evaporation ponds. Known for its antioxidant activity because of its ability to create a large amount of carotenoids, it is responsible for most of the primary production in hypersaline environments worldwide, and is also used in cosmetics and dietary supplements.
Lake Victoria is a 139-hectare (340-acre) shallow saline lake on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria in Australia, close to the township of Point Lonsdale and part of the Lonsdale Lakes Nature Reserve administered by Parks Victoria.
Halobacterium salinarum, formerly known as Halobacterium cutirubrum or Halobacterium halobium, is an extremely halophilic marine obligate aerobic archaeon. Despite its name, this is not a bacterium, but a member of the domain Archaea. It is found in salted fish, hides, hypersaline lakes, and salterns. As these salterns reach the minimum salinity limits for extreme halophiles, their waters become purple or reddish color due to the high densities of halophilic Archaea. H. salinarum has also been found in high-salt food such as salt pork, marine fish, and sausages. The ability of H. salinarum to survive at such high salt concentrations has led to its classification as an extremophile.
The chestnut-banded plover is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. This species has a large range, being distributed across Southern Africa. However, it occupies a rather small area.
The hooded plover or hooded dotterel is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. It is endemic to southern Australia, where it inhabits ocean beaches and subcoastal lagoons.
Lake Hillier is a saline lake on the edge of Middle Island, the largest of the islands and islets that make up the Recherche Archipelago in the Goldfields-Esperance region, off the south coast of Western Australia. It is particularly notable for its pink colour. A long and thin shore divides the Southern Ocean from the lake.
A pink lake is a lake that has a red or pink colour. This is often caused by the presence of salt-tolerant algae that produces carotenoids, such as Dunaliella salina, usually in conjunction with specific bacteria and archaea, which may vary from lake to lake. The most common archaeon is Halobacterium salinarum.
A hypersaline lake is a landlocked body of water that contains significant concentrations of sodium chloride, brines, and other salts, with saline levels surpassing those of ocean water.
Lake Warden is a salt lake in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. It and its associated wetlands are protected in a nature reserve; they were recognised as being of international importance under the Ramsar Convention through designation of the Lake Warden System on 7 June 1990 as Ramsar Site 485. The lake is also a DIWA-listed wetland.
Lake Gore is a seasonal and semi-permanent saline lake in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia located approximately 24 km (15 mi) west of Esperance. It is an important site for waterbirds.
Lake Beeac, a hypersaline endorheic lake, is located beside the small town of Beeac in the Lakes and Craters region of the Victorian Volcanic Plains of south-west Victoria, in southeastern Australia. The 560-hectare (1,400-acre) lake is situated about 19 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Colac, and its high salinity gives it a milky-blue colour. The lake is part of the Ramsar-listed Western District Lakes site, and enjoys international recognition of its wetland values and some protection for its waterbirds.
The Western District Lakes of Victoria, in the Western District of Victoria, south-eastern Australia, were recognised on 15 December 1982 as wetlands of international importance by listing under the Ramsar Convention, as Ramsar site no.268.
The Seagull Lake is sub-coastal saline lake fed by a marine spring located in the locality of Yanerbie on the western side of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia within the boundaries of the Sceale Bay Conservation Park. It lies about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Streaky Bay and 280 kilometres (170 mi) north of Port Lincoln.
Middle Island is an island off the south coast of Western Australia in the Recherche Archipelago, around 120 km (75 mi) south-east of Esperance. It is known for its pink lake, Lake Hillier. Goose Island lies just adjacent to the north.
Lake Ewlyamartup is an ephemeral salt lake in the Great Southern region of Western Australia located approximately 17 km (11 mi) east of the town of Katanning and about 294 km (183 mi) south east of Perth.
Kobeituz is a salt lake in Yereymentau District, Akmola Region Kazakhstan.