Pink Lake, Salt lake in Goldfields-Esperance, Australia
Pink Lake is a salt lake in the Shire of Esperance in Western Australia, stretching about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) long and 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) wide. The lake lies near the South Coast Highway and covers roughly 245 acres (99 hectares) of open terrain.
British explorer John Septimus Roe named the water body Lake Spencer in 1848 after Richard Spencer, an early magistrate in Albany. The name later shifted to the current one, referencing the occasional coloration of the water.
The lake forms part of an Important Bird Area, supporting populations of hooded plovers and banded stilts during their migrations.
The lake sits about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) west of the town of Esperance and can be reached by car via the South Coast Highway throughout the year. Several viewpoints along the road offer sightlines to the water surface without long walks.
The pink hue of the water comes from Dunaliella salina algae and Halobacterium cutirubrum bacteria, which produce red pigments when salt concentration rises. However, the coloration does not always appear and depends on temperature, light exposure, and evaporation levels.
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