The Cellar  

Go Back   The Cellar > Images > Image of the Day

Image of the Day Images that will blow your mind - every day. [Blog] [RSS] [XML]

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 10-03-2013, 11:04 PM   #1
Nirvana
Back in 10
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 3,684
Lake Natron Oct 4th, 2013

In 2011, when he was traveling to shoot photos for a new book on the disappearing wildlife of East Africa, Across the Ravaged Land, photographer Nick Brandt came across a truly astounding place: A natural lake that seemingly turns all sorts of animals into stone.

“When I saw those creatures for the first time alongside the lake, I was completely blown away,” says Brandt. “The idea for me, instantly, was to take portraits of them as if they were alive.”

Name:  Calcified.jpg
Views: 1861
Size:  81.3 KB

The ghastly Lake Natron, in northern Tanzania, is a salt lake—meaning that water flows in, but doesn’t flow out, so it can only escape by evaporation. Over time, as water evaporates, it leaves behind high concentrations of salt and other minerals, like at the Dead Sea and Utah’s Great Salt Lake.

Unlike those other lakes, though, Lake Natron is extremely alkaline, due to high amounts of the chemical natron (a mix of sodium carbonate and baking soda) in the water. The water’s pH has been measured as high as 10.5—nearly as high as ammonia. “It’s so high that it would strip the ink off my Kodak film boxes within a few seconds,” Brandt says.

As you might expect, few creatures live in the harsh waters, which can reach 140 degrees Fahreinheit—they’re home to just a single fish species (Alcolapia latilabris), some algae and a colony of flamingos that feeds on the algae and breeds on the shore.

Frequently, though, migrating birds crash into the lake’s surface. Brandt theorizes that the highly-reflective, chemical dense waters act like a glass door, fooling birds into thinking they’re flying through empty space (not long ago, a helicopter pilot tragically fell victim to the same illusion, and his crashed aircraft was rapidly corroded by the lake’s waters). During dry season, Brandt discovered, when the water recedes, the birds’ desiccated, chemically-preserved carcasses wash up along the coastline.

“It was amazing. I saw entire flocks of dead birds all washed ashore together, lemming-like,” he says. “You’d literally get, say, a hundred finches washed ashore in a 50-yard stretch.”

LINK
__________________
Speaking simply... do not confuse this with having a simple mind.
Nirvana is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2013, 11:20 AM   #2
blueboy56
Master Locutor
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 151
Also, natron was one of the ingredients used in the process of Egyptian mummification. This was strangely interesting.
blueboy56 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2013, 01:37 PM   #3
footfootfoot
To shreds, you say?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: in the house and on the street-how many, many feet we meet!
Posts: 18,449
It's also why Sodium, the element, is Na. (Natrium)
__________________
The internet is a hateful stew of vomit you can never take completely seriously. - Her Fobs
footfootfoot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2013, 03:13 PM   #4
Gravdigr
The Un-Tuckian
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Central...KY that is
Posts: 39,517
He posed the carcasses for those pics. No shit.
__________________


These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, EPA, FBI, DEA, CDC, or FDIC. These statements are not intended to diagnose, cause, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you feel you have been harmed/offended by, or, disagree with any of the above statements or images, please feel free to fuck right off.
Gravdigr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2013, 11:08 AM   #5
BigV
Goon Squad Leader
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Seattle
Posts: 27,063
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gravdigr View Post
He posed the carcasses for those pics. No shit.
...

Like every other person who ever took a picture of their thanksgiving turkey before carving it.
__________________
Be Just and Fear Not.
BigV is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2013, 11:27 AM   #6
Happy Monkey
I think this line's mostly filler.
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: DC
Posts: 13,575
He would have had to. The critters are petrified, but the lake isn't Medusa; it can't turn them to stone while they're sitting on a branch.
__________________
_________________
|...............| We live in the nick of times.
| Len 17, Wid 3 |
|_______________| [pics]
Happy Monkey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2013, 02:36 PM   #7
Sundae
polaroid of perfection
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 24,185
Fascinating Nirv, thank you.
I was waiting for the flamingos, I know their habitatas.
Real ones tat is, not plastic; they might occasionally surprise me.

Posing dead animals for photos is creepy?
The Victorians posed their dead rellies.
I spose it was ideal when you had to hold a pose for a long time before it was captured.
__________________
Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac
Sundae is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2013, 10:13 AM   #8
Adak
Lecturer
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 796
There was a nature documentary on the flamingos that breed around the lake some time back.

Heart breaking though, as the chicks that are born late, can't fly before the salt begins building up on their feet - and dooming them to be abandoned by their parents, and anchored eventually in place, by the build up of the salt encrusting their feet.

Those chicks are born, suffer from the salt and heat, and die. That's it for them.
Adak is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2013, 11:00 AM   #9
Happy Monkey
I think this line's mostly filler.
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: DC
Posts: 13,575
Probably a Sisyphean task, but here is what some folks do about that. The video shows people knocking the salt off their legs. Oddly, the rest of the web page makes no mention of the phenomenon.
__________________
_________________
|...............| We live in the nick of times.
| Len 17, Wid 3 |
|_______________| [pics]
Happy Monkey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-11-2013, 11:45 AM   #10
BigV
Goon Squad Leader
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Seattle
Posts: 27,063
impressive find, Happy Monkey.
__________________
Be Just and Fear Not.
BigV is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-11-2013, 11:49 AM   #11
glatt
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 27,717
Weird video. You'd think the legs would get hurt, hitting them with a hammer like that to clear the salt.
glatt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-16-2013, 02:20 PM   #12
xoxoxoBruce
The future is unwritten
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
The salt isn't tight to the leg like a ring, it's loose like a bracelet. The shock from the hammer isn't transmitted to the leg... if he doesn't swing like 3foot.
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.
xoxoxoBruce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-2013, 06:25 AM   #13
footfootfoot
To shreds, you say?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: in the house and on the street-how many, many feet we meet!
Posts: 18,449
Ouch
__________________
The internet is a hateful stew of vomit you can never take completely seriously. - Her Fobs
footfootfoot is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:03 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.