Tanzanian Lake Mummifies Animals

Tanzania's Lake Natron is turning animals into stone, sort of.

With a pH pushing 10.5, the water is so alkaline that animals that succumb to the harsh environment don't decompose -- they're pickled.

Wildlife photographer Nick Brandt was especially mesmerized by the phenomenon, posing the corpses in positions normally assumed in life.

The result is haunting.

"I unexpectedly found the creatures -- all manner of birds and bats -- washed up along the shoreline of Lake Natron in Northern Tanzania," Brandt told NBC News. "I took these creatures as I found them on the shoreline, and then placed them in 'living' positions, bringing them back to 'life.'"

Just south of the 12- by 30-mile lake is Ol Doinyo Lengai. The ancient volcano is the only one in the world to spew alkali-rich natrocarbonatites as ashy runoff that ultimately makes its way into the lake, causing the hostile environment.

The lake isn't void of life, however. According to LiveScience, "Lake Natron's alkaline waters support a thriving ecosystem of salt marshes, freshwater wetlands, flamingos and other wetland birds, tilapia and the algae on which large flocks of flamingos feed."

The animals in Brandt's pictures likely died of natural causes, Thure Cerling, a professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah, told National Geographic, adding that it's unlikely that the animals are truly calcified, despite appearances.

"There is almost no calcium in the lake, although the inflowing fresh waters have calcium, which precipitates as it mixes with the high-pH alkaline waters of the lake."

Brandt's photographs are currently on display at the Hasted Kraeutler Gallery in New York City and will be published in a photo anthology by Abrams Books, NBC reports.

To see Brandt's photos, click here.