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Lake Hillier

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  Location: It’s on the Middle Island near Southwestern Australia (Continent of Australia)
• Created by: Algae and bacteria cause the lake to have a pink color
• Size: It is about 2,000 ft (600 m) long, about 820 ft (250 m) wide, and it is a shallow lake, just a few feet (meters) depending on the rainfall and the ocean levels
• It has about ten times more salt in the lake than in the ocean, and a layer of dried salt surrounds the lake’s edge.
• The only animals that live in the lake are micro-organisms such as different-colored algae and bacteria because they can survive high salt levels.
Research by scientists shows that the algae and bacteria reacting with the high salt levels cause the pink color of the water in the lake.
• It has eucalyptus and paperback trees along the coast to separate it from the ocean.
• It was found in 1802 by Mathew Flinders , a British Navigator, and Cartographer, and he named the lake after a crewmate who fell sick and died named William Hillier.
• In the late 1880s, a father and sons tried to mine the lake to access the salt, but shortly after production started, they realized the salt was not good for food and shut down production.
• It is safe to swim in the lake, but it is not allowed. It is now protected land under the government.
• To get to Lake Hillier, the most common way is by helicopter, there are tours, but you can get there by boat. It is on a remote part of the island.