A massive algae bloom has turned Turkey’s Tuz Gola lake blood red, ABC News reports.
The popular salt lake has turned red courtesy of a large bloom of Dunaliella salinas algae.
This type of algae is predominantly found in sea salt. While officials don’t recommend drinking the affected water, Dunaliella salinas algae is used in some cosmetics and supplements for its high antioxidant properties.
Tuz Gola is the second-largest lake in the country and officials say it is evaporating because of the summer heat.
“Because the lake is losing water, the salinity is getting higher and higher, which kills off a lot of the plankton that normally eat this red algae,” Stony Brook University marine ecology research professor Dr. Christopher Gobler told ABC News.
