June 11, 2008

A visit to Mono Lake

photo by
Derek Daniel

The lake is known to be a migratory stop and nesting area for over 2 million birds. They feed on the Alkali Fly and Mono Lake Brine Shrimp that thrive in water with approximately 280 million tons of dissolved salts making it over twice as salty as the world's oceans.
Due to water diversions from inbound water supplies, by 1982 the lake was reduced to 37,688 acres having lost 31 percent of its 1941 surface area. As a result alkaline sands and once-submerged tufa towers became exposed producing an almost alien landscape.

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