--- title: See Australia Lake Turn Pink PHOTOS description: The salt lake in Melbourne's Westgate Park has turned a vivid pink color thanks to a seasonal natural phenomenon. canonical: https://time.com/4695715/lake-turns-pink/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-08T20:36:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:41:44.635Z og:title: See the Lake That Turned Pink in Striking Natural Phenomenon og:description: There's a perfectly scientific explanation og:url: https://time.com/4695715/lake-turns-pink/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedb7a337980a0ef4/6988bda0bc6cfc2e8c3e0712/westgate-pink-park.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Westgate Park’s salt lake in 2017. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See the Lake That Turned Pink in Striking Natural Phenomenon twitter:description: There's a perfectly scientific explanation twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedb7a337980a0ef4/6988bda0bc6cfc2e8c3e0712/westgate-pink-park.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See the Lake That Turned Bright Pink in Striking Natural Phenomenon  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 8, 2017 8:36 PM UTC  Westgate Park’s salt lake in 2017. Westgate Park’s salt lake in 2017.Parks Victoria  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 8, 2017 8:36 PM UTC Hot on the heels of [Canada’s pink drinking water incident](http://time.com/4695330/pink-water-canada-onoway-alberta/), a [lake in Australia](http://time.com/4371446/these-tranquil-lakes-are-actually-ancient-impact-craters/) has turned a vivid pink color thanks to a seasonal [natural phenomenon](http://time.com/4356802/underwater-lost-city-geological-phenomenon/). According to the [Parks Victoria Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/ParksVictoria/posts/1311187805607842), the new shade of the salt lake in Melbourne’s Westgate Park is due to a mix of high salt levels, high temperatures, sunlight and lack of rainfall that causes algae at the bottom of the lake to produce a red pigment. However, despite the water’s inviting hue, the park advises against swimming in the lake in its current state. “Enjoy the views, but we recommend you don’t come into contact with the water,” Parks Victoria wrote. “The lake is expected to return to its normal colour towards winter, when the weather cools and rainfall increases.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4695715/lake-turns-pink/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4695715/lake-turns-pink/"},"headline":"See the Lake That Turned Bright Pink in Striking Natural Phenomenon","datePublished":"2017-03-08T20:36:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:41:44.635Z","description":"There's a perfectly scientific explanation","url":"https://time.com/4695715/lake-turns-pink/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Australia","nature","Melbourne"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedb7a337980a0ef4/6988bda0bc6cfc2e8c3e0712/westgate-pink-park.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedb7a337980a0ef4/6988bda0bc6cfc2e8c3e0712/westgate-pink-park.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Westgate Park’s salt lake in 2017.","caption":"Westgate Park’s salt lake in 2017.","creditText":"Parks Victoria","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4695715/lake-turns-pink/","name":"See the Lake That Turned Bright Pink in Striking Natural Phenomenon"}}]}] ```