Whether it be Senegal’s Pink Lake (above) or the fascinating asphalt-filled Pitch Lake in Trinidad, these aren’t bodies of water that you come across everyday. We’ve rounded up five of the most unusual for your viewing enjoyment. Continue reading to see them all.

5. Pitch Lake

The Pitch Lake is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, located at La Brea in southwest Trinidad, within the Siparia Regional Corporation. The lake covers about 40 ha and is reported to be 75 m deep. Pitch Lake has fascinated explorers and scientists, as well as attracting tourists, since its discovery by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1595. Raleigh himself found immediate use for the asphalt to caulk his ship. Exported asphalt from Pitch Lake was also used to pave the streets of some regions of New York City.

4. Spotted Lake

Spotted Lake is very highly concentrated with numerous different minerals. It contains some of the highest quantities (in the world) of magnesium sulfate, calcium and sodium sulphates. It also contains extremely high concentrations of eight other minerals as well as some small doses of four others such as silver and titanium. Most of the water in the lake evaporates over the summer, leaving behind all the minerals. Large “spots” on the lake appear and depending on the mineral composition at the time, the spots will be different colors.

3. Laguna Colorada

Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) is a shallow salt lake in the southwest of the altiplano of Bolivia, within Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve and close to the border with Chile. The lake contains borax islands, whose white color contrasts with the reddish color of its waters, which is caused by red sediments and pigmentation of some algae. Laguna Colorada is one of the Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention signed in 1971.

2. Plitvice Lakes

Plitvice Lakes National Park is the oldest national park in Southeast Europe and the largest national park in Croatia. The name Plitvice was first mentioned in a written document in 1777 by Dominik Vukasović, the priest of Otocac. This name was designated due to natural phenomena that have created the lakes. Nature formed shallow basins, which have been filled with water.

1. Lake Retba

Lake Retba or Lac Rose lies north of the Cap Vert peninsula of Senegal, north east of Dakar. It’s named for its pink waters, caused by Dunaliella salina algae in the water. The lake is also known for its high salt content, which, like that of the Dead Sea, allows people to float easily. Many salt collectors work 607 hours a day in the lake, which has a salt content close to 4%, or 40 PPT (Parts Per Thousand).

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