[IMAGE: Lake Hillier, by Photograph by Aussie Oc]
![[IMAGE: Lake Hillier, by Photograph by Aussie Oc]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Lake_Hillier_2_Middle_Island_Recherche_Archipelago_NR_IV-2011.JPG/1280px-Lake_Hillier_2_Middle_Island_Recherche_Archipelago_NR_IV-2011.JPG){kind=link}
Lake Hillier
Photograph by Aussie Oc, Natural
On Middle Island, off the south coast of Western Australia, there's a lake that is bright pink — right next to the deep blue Southern Ocean.
The colour isn't a trick of the light. It's caused by living things. The lake is very salty, and the colour is thought to come from salt-loving micro-organisms, especially the alga Dunaliella salina and salt-loving bacteria, which produce red and pink pigments.
Lake Hillier is around 600 metres long. It stays pink all year round, and the water still looks pink when scooped into a container. The island is remote and uninhabited, so most people see the lake from the air.
Look for
- The bubble-gum pink water
- The thin strip of sand and trees separating it from the blue ocean
- How the colour stays even in a glass