Lakes aren’t all that exciting. Some of them are huge and some of them are salty (The Dead Sea) but none of them are bizarre or entertaining in any way - right? Well not exactly. You just need to venture off the beaten path a little, and you’ll find things like…
10. Jellyfish Lake Has A Giant Swarm of Jellyfish
The aptly named Jellyfish Lake is located in Palau [officially the Republic of Palau]. Because of its isolation from the ocean and minimal predators, the golden jellyfish that live there thrive and reproduce at astounding rate. The jellyfish migrate by the millions from one side of the lake to the other and back every single day in a giant swarm.
They do have stinging cells, but their stings aren’t harmful to humans in any way, so it’s a really popular snorkelling location.
9. Lake Resia Has A Bell Tower
Lake Resia [or Lago di Resia] is located in South Tyrol, a province in northern Italy, and is an artificial lake that was created when a nearby river was dammed in the 1950′s. Several villages were completely submerged apart from the church tower that, ironically, towers over the lake surface.
The church tower before the lake.
In the winter when the lake freezes over, people can even walk out to the tower. According to legend, you can still hear the church bell ring every once in a while, even though it was removed long ago.
Or maybe that’s what the chapel ghost wants you to think.
8. Lake Superior - Surfing on a Lake
Pictured: the only time a surfer has had a legitimate chance of hitting a deer.
When we think surfing, we think oceans, not lakes, but during the right time of year, the waves in the great lakes are tall enough to surf.
“I can’t feel my legs, but this is gnarly!”
Unfortunately, that time of year is winter, and that means the water is at a balmy 0 to 5 degrees Celsius. The water is so cold that the surfers have to coat their faces in vaseline to protect them from the elements. Ice clings to their wet-suits and facial hair, and the waters are generally more choppy and erratic than the ocean. That doesn’t stop the determined surfers that brave these waters.
But when the weather is so cold that your beard might get frostbite, we wonder why you wouldn’t just take a trip to the beach instead.
7. Dominica’s Boiling Lake
Up next on our list of places you probably shouldn’t go surfing is Dominica’s Boiling Lake. It might have been a bit difficult to tell from the name, but we assure you that the lake is in a perpetual state of boiling. But just the frothing maelstrom in the centre is boiling. Around the edges, it’s a nice, tolerable 160-190 degrees Fahrenheit. Because the lake is caused by volcanic activity, it is highly unstable. Sometimes it totally drains, and sometimes it’s the bubbling turmoil you see here.
And people who need to cross it? Well we’re sure they do it in the safest way possible, like going around or something. Just kidding. They dangle from ropes directly above the thing.
6. A Palace in a Lake
The Jal Mahal was a palace built for Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in the 1700s. However, there came a time when there was a severe drought in his region, so he had the idea to build a dam and flood this area that had a knack for accumulating water. Incidentally, that area happened to include his Jal Mahal palace.
“Sure taking a boat to the palace is fine, but having to SCUBA dive to the bedroom is a bit ridiculous.”
Fortunately, the palace survived, and it is still accessible today, though it is abandoned and rumoured to be haunted. And this is just the tip of the gilded ice berg. The bottom four floors are totally submerged. [More]
5. Lake Baikal - Enormous Quantities of Methane
Basically, there’s methane gas build-ups in Lake Baikal that melt and form perfect circles in the lake. The weird thing? These circles aren’t there every spring, and when they are, the largest ones are often so big (up to 2 miles in diameter), they can be seen from space, and the Russian government has ordered satellite monitoring of the lake in order to see how the lake is melting. And they can only be seen from space. They’re so enormous that they can’t be seen at ground level, or even at the tops of nearby mountains. At least no one’s claimed that they’re landing pads for flying saucers - yet.
4. More Lakes in Main Crater Lake
This next one is a real case of lake-ception. Vulcan Point (that tiny, little dot) is the world’s largest island on a lake on an island on a lake on an island. Yep. Vulcan Point is on Main Crater Lake. That lake is on Taal island. Taal Island is on Lake Taal, which is on Luzon Island. That island is on the Pacific Ocean, if you’re curious. If nature packed any more lakes into this confusion-fest, the island at the very centre would be the size of a Coco Puff.
The whole thing is one big crater of an active volcano, and the concentric circles were probably caused as cones collapsed over the ages. Vulcan point is currently in the active portion of the volcano.
3. Lago Colorada Has Red Water
It also has white islands made of borax (the stuff in detergent, so washing your reds in the lake is incredibly convenient) and apparently flamingos love the place. Seriously. They flock to it in droves.
The only logical conclusion is that their mothership is under that mountain.
2. Pitch Lake Has Asphalt, and Lots of It
Pitch Lake is the world’s largest natural asphalt deposit. That’s right. An entire lake of liquid asphalt. It’s been visited by scientists the world over, even Sir Walter Raleigh, who used the asphalt to caulk his ships. Asphalt from the lake has even been exported to pave parts of New York City.
It was created when a pocket of oil deep in the earth’s crust was forced to the surface and the lighter substances evaporated, leaving just the asphalt behind. Because of asphalt’s preservative qualities, all sorts of fossils have been found in the lake, from an entire sloth to a mammoth tooth.
1. Sharks in a Lake?
A lake on a golf course in Australia has recently been invaded by bull sharks. A recent flood brought a nearby river into contact with the lake, and when the water fell back down, a few sharks were trapped in the lake and the local golfers seem to like it.
We assume this has something to do with the fact that the average Australian animal is so poisonous and feral that the sharks seem friendly by comparison.
“Come here buddy. Let me scratch your dorsal fin.”
The course has posted signs around the lake to warn golfers trying to retrieve lost balls, but anyone who lives in a land ravaged by dingoes can probably show a shark who’s boss.
Related Posts:
1. 10 Highest And Most Beautiful Lakes On Earth
2. 15 of the Most Beautiful Crater Lakes in the World
3. 12 of the World’s Strangest And Most Unusual Bodies of Water
4. 12 Deepest Lakes In The World
5. 8 Fascinating Pink Lakes of the World
6. 13 Perfect Beaches and Lakes with Crystal Clear Water
7. Pitch Lake, Trinidad - The Largest Natural Deposit of Asphalt
8. Lake Turkana: The World’s Largest Desert Lake
9. The Remarkable Beauty Of The Ounianga Lakes In The Heart Of The Sahara Desert
10. The Incredible Frozen Bubbles of Canada's Abraham Lake
11. The Mysteries and Tragedy of Russia's Bottomless Karst Lake
1. 10 Highest And Most Beautiful Lakes On Earth
2. 15 of the Most Beautiful Crater Lakes in the World
3. 12 of the World’s Strangest And Most Unusual Bodies of Water
4. 12 Deepest Lakes In The World
5. 8 Fascinating Pink Lakes of the World
6. 13 Perfect Beaches and Lakes with Crystal Clear Water
7. Pitch Lake, Trinidad - The Largest Natural Deposit of Asphalt
8. Lake Turkana: The World’s Largest Desert Lake
9. The Remarkable Beauty Of The Ounianga Lakes In The Heart Of The Sahara Desert
10. The Incredible Frozen Bubbles of Canada's Abraham Lake
11. The Mysteries and Tragedy of Russia's Bottomless Karst Lake
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