Lake Natron The animals who live their are specially adapted to the environment. "Natron is usually a toasty 80 degrees Fahrenheit and blood-red from bacteria, the only living things that can survive its deadly alkalinity. At certain times of the year, the reservoir turns a bloody color, and among the petrified statues of birds, flocks of pink flamingos are walking. The Middle East boasts some of the world’s saltiest waterbodies, but none approach the horror of Lake Natron in Tanzania, one of the harshest environments on the planet. Is that true? | derejeb/iStock/Getty Images If a body of water is unfit for life, it’s a good bet that it’s unfit for swimming. Lake Natron in northern Tanzania is one of the harshest environments on Earth. If you tape Nick Brandt, Lake Natron in Google, you will be shown an amazing collection of balck-and-white photographs of a decadent grey moor. Natron made its way to the lake through volcanic ash from Ol Doinyo Lengai, a Rift Valley volcano just south of the lake. It’s hot, chalky waters can turn birds and land animals into calcified statues, spookily captured by photographer Nick Brandt in his new book, Across the Ravaged Land. Lake Natron As one of the deadliest lakes in the world, its beauty though might suggest otherwise. Lake Natron is a safe breeding location because its caustic environment is a barrier against predators trying to reach their nests on seasonally-forming evaporite islands. Temperatures in the lake can rise to 140 °F (60 °C) and the alkalinity is between pH 9 and pH 10.5, almost as alkaline as ammonia. while traveling northern tanzania, british photographer nick brandt unexpectedly came upon the lethal lake natron, where he found a number dead birds and bats that appeared to be made of stone. Animals who enter the water are almost certainly doomed, save certain kinds of fish that have evolved to survive in such a caustic environment. Lately, it's earned a reputation for washing up the bodies of small animals on its shores, each wrapped in a delicate crusty shroud. It is said that there is a lake in Tanzania that petrifies every animal that submerges in its deadly water. Then again, just because something is beautiful, doesn’t mean you should ever touch it. These flamingoes, the single large flock in East Africa, gather along saline lakes in the region, where they feed on Spirulina (a blue-green algae with red pigments). The phenomenon of Lake Natron lies in the peculiarities of its water and the area where it is located.