Deadly lake turns animals into statues

There’s a deceptively still body of water in Tanzania with a deadly secret—it turns any animal it touches to stone. The rare phenomenon is caused by the chemical makeup of the lake, but the petrified creatures it leaves behind are straight out of a horror film.

Lake Natron, a saline lake in northern Tanzania near the border with Kenya, is anything but paradise. In fact, most wildlife knows to avoid it because of how harsh conditions are there. The lake takes its name from natron, a naturally occurring compound made mainly of sodium carbonate, with a bit of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) thrown in. Here, this has come from volcanic ash, accumulated from the Great Rift valley. Animals that become immersed in the water die and are calcified.

Credit: Nick Brandt, Ashley Feinberg