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Photographer Nick Brandt recently traveled to the
world’s deadliest lake, Lake Natron in Northern Tanzania, and discovered
a shocking collection of perfectly mummified animal remains. Upon full
submersion into the lake, the animals are instantly calcified and
perfectly preserved. Take a look at the following photos and read the
article below to learn more about Lake Natron’s unique properties, the
animals who have fallen victim to it’s depths, and the few that can
actually survive it’s deadly waters.
While exploring stark areas of East Africa in 2010, photographer Nick
Brandt stumbled upon an amazing site. Perfectly preserved remains of
birds, fish, and bats lay strewn around the shores of Lake Natron in
northern Tanzania.
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“Discovering them washed up along the shoreline of Lake Natron, I
thought they were extraordinary — every last tiny detail perfectly
preserved down to the tip of a bat’s tongue, the minute hairs on his
face. The entire fish eagle was the most surprising and revelatory
find,” Brandt told CBSNews.com in an email.
The dead animals were all victims of the shallow lake’s lethal
combination of high temperatures and salinity. The lake’s average
temperature is 80 degrees Fahrenheit, but it can spike as high as about
140 degrees.
The only animal species that can survive below the lake’s surface is a
fish called alkaline tilapia (Alcolapia alcalica), and it can live only
along the edges where the water is less salty. Bacteria have also
adapted to the deadly waters.
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Other species are able to survive as long as they do not completely
submerge. Salt islands within the 12-by-30 mile lake are actually the
only breeding ground used by lesser flamingoes (Hoenicopterus minor).
But as Brandt’s photos show, even the flamingoes sometimes fall victim
to the lake.
Lake Natron takes its name from natron, a mineral often referred to as
sodium carbonate decahydrate. Records show that ancient Egyptians used
this natural salt to dry out organs during the mummification process.
Natron made its way to the lake through volcanic ash from Ol Doinyo
Lengai, a Rift Valley volcano just south of the lake. Ol Doinyo Lengai
is the only volcano on the planet that spits out natrocarbonatite lava,
which is rich in sodium and potassium carbonates, nyerereite and
gregoryite. In other words, it’s much saltier than the more common
silicate-rich lava.
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Ol Doinyo Lengai has erupted at least eight times since measurements
were first recorded in 1883, and lava has been flowing since the 2007
eruption. When the lava’s natrocarbonatites mix with rainwater, they run
into the lake, where they spike the lake’s salinity. Then, just as
happened with organs during mummification, the natron preserves the
remains of animals brave enough to dive into the lake.
Scientists do not know what entices birds and bats to plunge into the
deadly water. Brandt said that it is likely that they are confused by
the lake’s “extreme reflective nature.” He compared the situation to
birds flying into glass windows.
While photographing the animal remains, Brandt decided to position them
into more familiar stances, perching them on tree limbs over the water.
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I took these creatures as I found them on the shoreline, and then placed
them in ‘living’ positions, bringing them back to ‘life’, as it were.
Reanimated, alive again in death.
His work is currently on display at the Hasted Kraeutler Gallery in New
York City, the Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles, and the Photoeye
Gallery in Santa Fe, and will be published in the photobook, “Across The
Ravaged Land”.
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