The Gorgonizing Lake

“They thought I was absolutely insane—some crazy white guy, coming along offering money for people to basically go on a treasure hunt around the lake for dead birds.”

–Nick Brandt

In Greek mythology, the primeval sea-god Phorcys and the sea-monster Ceto had six daughters, three of whom were named Euryale, Stheno, and Medusa. Collectively, they are known as the Gorgons.

They held a terrifying superpower: anyone who looked at them turned to stone.

Though Medusa is the most well-known, she was also the least mighty. Euryale and Stheno were eternal, while Medusa slummed with the mortals, eventually slain by Perseus. With Poseidon, Medusa birthed another famous figure from the mythos, Pegasus. The Greeks often depicted the Gorgons with hair made of snakes and loud, growling cries.

The origins of the Gorgons and their abilities are lost to antiquity.

The capacity to ossify a living being might simply have sprung from the imagination of an ancient human, but turning something into rock isn’t necessarily alien to planet Earth.

If the Ancient Greeks had lived in Africa, for example, the gnarly Lake Natron might have provided all the inspiration they needed to develop the Gorgons.

This body of water – if we can call it that – sits in northern Tanzania on the border with Kenya and looks like it might be fed by the infernal River Styx.

Natron features hellish coloring because it is a salt lake, or, more specifically, an alkaline lake.

Fed by the Southern Ewaso Ng’iro River from Kenya and a series of mineral-heavy hot springs, the lake does not contain an exit waterway. Evaporation is the only way liquid can leave Natron’s system, meaning anything dissolved in the water stays at the lake. Over time, this reality allowed high levels of salt and other minerals to accumulate.

The lake’s name comes from a compound prevalent there: sodium carbonate decahydrate. This hydrate of sodium carbonate (more commonly known as washing soda or soda ash) is called natron. Another compound, trona, and the natron combine to make the lake extremely alkaline. The water in Lake Natron has been measured with a pH of greater than 12, and it often sits around 10.5. Neutral water marks the middle of the pH scale at 7. Anything below 7 is an acid, while anything above is a base. Natron’s 10.5+ mark puts it on par with ammonia!

When salinity increases in a body, the types of bacteria that can survive there change. Halophiles – salt lovers – such as cyanobacteria thrive in Natron. These bacteria produce a red pigment through photosynthesis, granting a bloody hue to the lake.

Additionally, the denizens of Hades might take a spa holiday at Natron, as the waters typically remain above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and can hit 60 degrees (140 F)!

This combination of heat and alkalinity makes it very hard for things to live in Lake Natron.

And, if you have the misfortunate of dying there, you’ll look like you encountered a Gorgon.

Photographer Nick Brandt created the incredible images above.

The birds in his pictures are real. They died in the lake and were calcified by the extreme conditions of the water. Dessicated, the bodies tend not to decompose. When Brandt discovered the abundant, rocky remains in Lake Natron, he envisioned a stark juxtaposition of life and death, so he began to collect the specimens and enlisted nearby people to help.

Brandt notes that the animals, obviously, did not die in the positions of his photos, but he notes that he did not alter their bodies at all, just their specific settings.

That organic carcasses can become stones in this fashion is wild. Earth can be a grisly place.

Lake Natron isn’t all death and non-dismemberment, though.

Earth can be a grisly place, but we’ve learned life usually finds a way.

Two species of alkaline tilapias survive in and are endemic to the harsh waters, Alcolapia latilabris and Alcolapia ndalalani. Another species populates the lake but also lives in other waterways. These fish have evolved to endure the alkalinity of Natron, though even they live at the edges and near the hot springs, areas slightly less destructive to life.

Lake Natron is also the only breeding ground in East Africa for the lesser flamingo. To these avians, the lake isn’t a death-bringer but a life-giver. The single flock, 2.5 million strong, gathers at the water to munch on Spirulina, a cyanobacterium. This diet, high in red pigments, gives the flamingos their distinctive coloring. Further, the alkalinity of the area deters predators, allowing flamingos to lay eggs with near impunity.

In 2008, Disneynature produced a documentary about these flamingos, called The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos.

Though this place has the power to make bodies into rock, it possesses a unique sense of beauty.

Ol Doinyo Lengai, an active volcano, overlooks the picturesque water and the African rift zone. Flourishing flamingos coexist with corpses preserved as if hit with Medusa’s gaze, highlighting the duality of existence: life and death, perhaps equally lovely, are ever-present partners, reverse and obverse on a cosmic coin.

While you’re on the life side, just don’t get stuck in Lake Natron’s water.