Lake Natron
Photographs of birds and bats from a red African lake looked as if the water had turned them to stone.
What was reported
Lake Natron, in northern Tanzania, is a shallow soda lake, often red from algae and so salty and alkaline that few animals live in it. It is the main breeding ground of the lesser flamingo.
In 2013 photographer Nick Brandt published pictures of birds and bats found on its shore, stiff and chalky white, perched as if alive. They spread online as proof that the lake turns animals to stone.
Explanations offered
The animals died naturally, perhaps by flying into the lake, which can be confusingly reflective. The water's high levels of sodium carbonate then preserved their bodies, as natron was once used in Egyptian mummification. Brandt said he posed them for the photographs.
- When
- Photographed in 2013
- Where
- Arusha Region, Tanzania
- Witnesses
- Photographers and visitors
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.