ExplorOz Traveller - Colours of lakes

Submitted: Sunday, Mar 22, 2026 at 18:39

ThreadID: 152303 Views:643 Replies:3 FollowUps:6

Member - Graham Watson (SA)

What is the difference between lakes coloured blue eg Lake Cawndilla and lakes coloured pink eg Lake Menindee (both in Kinchega National Park)?

Graham Watson

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Reply By: Peter_n_Margaret - Sunday, Mar 22, 2026 at 18:48

Sunday, Mar 22, 2026 at 18:48

Pink lakes have a bug called Dunaliella Salina growing in the salt that produces Beta Carotene which is the colorant in carrots, and (artificially) in margarine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunaliella_salina
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Peter
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Follow Up By: Member - Graham Watson (SA) - Sunday, Mar 22, 2026 at 22:24

Sunday, Mar 22, 2026 at 22:24

Sorry, I was more thinking about the colours shown on the maps, rather than the colour of the lakes themselves.

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Follow Up By: Member - peter_mcc - Sunday, Mar 22, 2026 at 22:27

Sunday, Mar 22, 2026 at 22:27

I think he's asking about the colour of the lake within the ExplorOz maps - some are pink, some are blue. Lake Menindee is pink on the map but, as far as my research has found, not pink in real life. The lakes nearby are blue on the map.

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Reply By: Member - peter_mcc - Sunday, Mar 22, 2026 at 22:29

Sunday, Mar 22, 2026 at 22:29

I think the difference is blue lakes on the map are "perennial" (always has water) and pink lakes are "nonperennial" (dry up sometimes).

That's my guess based on the "dynamic legend" in the Web version - if you click on a spot in pink/blue lakes it pops up a box which has the characteristics at the point you selected.

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