I Photographed A Pink Lake From The Air

Australia has a number of pink lakes, caused by a combination of high salinity and salt-loving algae that create the bright, bubblegum hue.

On a recent road trip north of Perth in Western Australia, I stopped in at Hutt Lagoon, near Port Gregory, home to one of the most impressive and largest pink lakes around.

The lake spans 14 km (8.7 mi) along the coast and around 2.3 km (1.4 mi) wide with a large dune system separating it from the Indian Ocean.

It’s the carotenoid-producing algae Dunaliella salina that is responsible for the cotton-candy colour which is a source of ß-carotene, a food colouring agent and source of vitamin A.

A series of artificial ponds along the eastern shore, farm the microalgae as a source of natural food colouring, sold for its high levels of antioxidants and also brine shrimp sold to prawn and fish farmers and the aquarium fish trade.

It’s this part of the lake which is a drone photographers dream as each pond takes on a different hue, creating an abstract pattern of dark pinks, pale pinks, greens and creams.

From the ground the water is still quite visibly pink but from the air its colour is much stronger as I discovered when I flew my DJI Spark drone over the lake and ponds creating these amazing photographs and video.

The lake is best viewed on a sunny day from late morning to midday when the water is its pinkest. An overcast day can dull the colour quite a bit. Apparently summer is the best time to see it, perhaps the water and colour concentrate in the heat, but I visited in late August where the colour is still obvious, as you’ll see in the images below.

More info: Instagram