Sailing in a strawberry milkshake: High levels of salt turn African lake an extraordinary colour


Punting through this unusually coloured lake it looks like this worker is wading through water running red with blood.



But while they are not taking to the bizarre looking Lake Retba, in Senegal, west Africa for some sort of morbid rescue mission, it is an unsavoury job of sorts.



That's because t he blood red colour is caused by high levels of salt - with some areas containing up to 40 per cent of it.

Strawberry milk: From above the river looks a bit like strawberry milk - coloured pink by the high concentration of salt

Workers make their way to the lake daily in a bid to collect the mineral and piles of it can be seen on the banks of the African shores.



Much like the the Dead Sea, swimmers lay back on the water, drifting with ease, as the salt content helps to aid floatation

Michael Danson, an expert in extremophile bacteria from Bath University, said: 'The strawberry colour is produced by salt-loving organism Dunaliella salina.

In the pink: A salt-collecting boat being punted through the waters of Lake Retba, Senegal Floating: Microbiologist Bernard Oliver floats on the west African river as a result of high levels of salt



Hard days work: Workers sift through the river in a bid to collect salt

'They produce a red pigment that absorbs and uses the energy of sunlight to create more energy, turning the water pink.



'Lakes like Retba and the Dead Sea, which have high salt concentrations, were once thought to be incompatible with life - hence the names. But they are very much alive.'



Salt collectors can often be seen scouring the expanse to remove the valuable mineral - but first have to coat their skin with shea butter.



Research: Microbiologist Michael Danson with the unusually coloured water and with a salt crust taking from the lake in Senegal

Salt banks: An aerial shot of salt piled up along the shoreline

This helps protect their skin from exposure to the intense salt levels in the three metre deep lake.



Salt crystals cling to the bodies of miners who work the lake everyday to extract its contents.



Villagers then process it before selling and using the valuable mineral.



Microbiology researchers sample the waters