A member of the Emergency Staff team sent us these curious images from the Ses Salines Natural Park of Ibiza and Formentera, where we can admire the different shades of the water. We couldn’t resist including them in our summer posts so you can enjoy them with us. Do you know why salt flats have that curious pink hue we’ve seen in Instagram photos in places like Australia, Africa, Asia, and as you can see, right here in Europe too?
Well, this striking hue is due to Artemia salina (brine shrimp), which lives in the salt ponds of Ibiza and Formentera and is responsible for this peculiar pinkish coloration. Artemia salina is the most specialized inhabitant of salt flats, possessing the most impressive osmoregulatory system known in the animal kingdom, enabling it to thrive in aquatic environments of high salinity. Its name, derived from the Greek artemía, means optimal preservation.
Artemia, or brine shrimp, is also the preferred food of flamingos, which is why although these birds are born gray, brown, or white, they acquire their pinkish hue over time. The characteristic color of these birds is due to a combination of Artemia salina and Dunaliella salina, a planktonic microalga that gives salt ponds their reddish tone. Artemia, which feeds on the algae—just as flamingos do directly as well—concentrates higher amounts of carotenoids, turning the birds’ feathers pink.
Late summer is the best time to contemplate the spectacle of the pink waters in the salt flats of Ibiza and Formentera Natural Park.
[Sources: Hipertextual, Diario de Ibiza]
En el sector del ocio, la formación continua es la mejor herramienta de prevención.
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