Hillier Lake; What is the secret of the pink lake?

One of the most attractive lakes in the world can be found on a relatively small island off the coast of Australia. Lake Hillier is a beautiful and extraordinary lake on the border of Middle Island in the Goldfields and Esperance region of Australia, which is known for its different and strange color. Lake Hillier, which is also known as the pink lake, is undoubtedly a mysterious phenomenon, unlike other lakes in the world, its color is pink. Stay with us in the rest of this article to get to know Hillier Lake more.

Hillier Lake, a mysterious phenomenon in the heart of nature

Lake Hillier is a beautiful and well-known salt lake in the world, which is located on the border of Middle Island, the largest islands of the Recherche Archipelago in the Goldfields-Esperance region, one of the nine regions that make up the state of Western Australia. Lake Hillier is especially known and appreciated for its pink color. This lake is a saltwater lake about 600 meters long and 250 meters wide without a river, surrounded by sand and dense vegetation consisting mostly of eucalyptus trees. The stunning pink water of this lake is separated from the blue color of the Indian Ocean and is separated from the northern shore of the island by only a thin strip of land covered with Melaleuca, a plant popular in Australia. In addition, as mentioned, Australia’s pink lake is a salt lake or salt lake with very high salt content, whose salt level is the same as the Dead Sea on the border of Jordan and Israel, which is one of the saltiest bodies of water on the planet. It is comparable to the salt level, which is 9.6 times higher than the ocean level.

The pink color of Hilir Lake, which is its main characteristic, is permanent and does not change in different periods of time. Although the water of the lake looks very pink from a distance, when you look at it closely, it is not and its color is pale pinkish. It is believed that the pink color of Hillier is due to the presence of the microorganism Dunaliella salina, which we will discuss further. It is interesting to know, although pink lakes are not very common, but Hillier Lake is not the only pink lake in the world and not even in Australia. In Australia, other pink lakes such as Lake Eyre in the South Australian outback and Lake Hart in Woomera, South Australia also have pink waters. Also, there are pink lakes in countries like Canada, Russia, France and Turkey, which every year many tourists travel and visit these countries by obtaining Canadian tourist visa, Russian visa or French visa.

In 2012, Lake Hillier, Australia’s pink pond, was included in the Recherche Archipelago Nature Reserve. Since 2002, the lake itself has been considered as a wetland with “sub-regional importance”. This means that currently, this lake is part of a protected area and access to the island is only possible through authorized and legal tours.

History of Lake Hillier

Pink Lake Hillier was discovered by British explorer Matthew Flinders on January 15, 1802. Flinders explored the area through a climbing expedition after climbing the highest peak on the island. In fact, Flinders went to the highest peak on the island and found the pink lake from the top. The 185 meter peak above which Flinders discovered and visited Lake Hillier is now called “Flinders Peak”. The entries in Flinders’ Journal are considered the earliest written records of the lake. Flinders observed the Pink Lake after climbing the highest peak on the island and described the lake as a pink lake saturated with salt. Flinders visited Middle Island again in May 1803, intending to stay a day or two and obtain a few bowls of salt from Middle Island Lake. Flinders is said to have named the lake after William Hillier, a crew member of the Investigator who died of dysentery on May 20, 1803, before leaving Middle Island. Also in 1889, a man named Edward Andrews investigated whether he could set up a trading company on the island. Andrews also briefly moved to the island with both of his sons and left after about a year working on the lake’s salt deposits. At the end of the 19th century, this lake was again mined for salt and a salt mine was set up in it. This mine was put into operation at the end of the 19th century, but due to several reasons, including the toxicity of the salt collected for consumption, its activity did not last more than 6 years and finally ended.

The reason why Lake Hillier is pink

Even today, no one has been able to definitively explain why the lake’s water is pink. But some scientists believe that this color is due to the presence of seaweed rich in carotenoids belonging to the marine species Dunaliella, which are the only living organisms in the lake, and in addition to the pink color, they also increase the salinity of the water.

As mentioned, the only living things in Hillier’s Pink Pond are microorganisms, including Dunaliella salina, a red algae that combines with the salt in the lake to turn the lake pink. There are also red halophilic bacteria called Bacterirubin in the salt crust of this lake, which change the color of the lake water by merging with these microorganisms. When the lake water reaches high salinity levels, high temperatures and sunlight cause these algae to release a pigment that can turn the lake pink. In addition, it is thought that the presence of some bacteria that live and grow in the salt crust of the lake surface may also be the reason for the pink color of this lake. In 2016, Extreme Microbiome Project scientists performed extensive microbiome DNA sequencing and metagenomics in the lake and identified Haloquadratum, Haloferax, Salinibacter, Halobacterium, Halogeometricum and several other halophilic organisms in the lake.

Visiting Hillier Lake

Unlike other pink lakes in Australia, Lake Hillier is only accessible by air or sea. In addition to booking private air tours, the best option to visit this lake is to board a plane, which offers unparalleled views of the lake along with the city itself. Every year, many people from all over the world receive Australian visas and visit the beautiful Hillier Lake. Despite its unusual color, this lake does not leave any known adverse and harmful effects on humans and you can swim in it. In fact, the high amount of salt in the lake makes the water so dense that it is easy to enter and swim.

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