You’ve seen the photos of the "Pink Lake," but the science is even more fascinating. It’s not the water that’s pink—it’s a living, breathing carpet of flamingos.
* The Diet of Color: Flamingos aren't born pink; they are born grey. They turn that iconic shade of coral because of the alpha and beta carotenoids found in the blue-green algae and brine shrimp they eat in Lake Nakuru’s alkaline waters.
* The Mirror Effect: The lake is very shallow (sometimes just a few feet deep), which creates a perfect mirror for the sky. When the flamingos take flight en masse, it looks like a pink cloud moving across a mirror.