Pink all year round… Lake Hillier
- Lake Hillier is a lake located in the Recherche Archipelago, on Middle Island, the largest island in the archipelago, south of Western Australia.
- Lake Hillier is famously coloured pink, which can be seen as a stunning bubblegum pink from the air and transparent pink from land.
- Lake Hillier is believed to be first discovered by Europeans in 1802, by navigator Matthew Flinders, while circumnavigating Australia, who, along with shipmaster John Thistle, discovered the water’s high salt content.
- ‘Lake Hillier’ is also known as ‘pink lake’, and is the home to many birds, both native and those that migrate.
- Lake Hillier, at its longest point, is 600 metres (1969 feet) and at its widest, is 250 metres (820 feet).
Hillier Lake, Western Australia
Image courtesy of Graeme Chruchard/Flickr
- Lake Hillier is surrounded by a thick covering of eucalyptus and paperbark trees, and the lake is difficult to access via land due to the dense forests.
- The cause of the pink colour of Lake Hillier is uncertain, even though it has been investigated, and it is possibly caused by the high salt content, the pigments in the water’s algae or the pigments of bacteria in the salt crusts, or a combination of the three.
- For six years, in the early 1900s, Lake Hillier was used for salt mining.
- Lake Hillier’s pink coloured water will still look pink when removed from the lake and placed in a container.
- Lake Hillier is only separated from the ocean by a thin band of trees and plants located on sand dunes.
Bibliography:
Lake Hillier, 2014, Globe Tourism, http://globe-tourism.com/lake-hillier.html
Lake Hillier, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Hillier
Pink LakeWestern Australia2014, Australia, http://www.australia.com/explore/states/wa/pink-lake.aspx
