Current:Home > Contact-usWildlife refuge pond in Hawaii mysteriously turns bright pink. Drought may be to blame-VaTradeCoin
Wildlife refuge pond in Hawaii mysteriously turns bright pink. Drought may be to blame
View Date:2025-01-07 14:06:52
HONOLULU (AP) — A pond in Hawaii has turned so bubble-gum pink it could be from the set of “Barbie,” but the bizarre phenomenon is no cause for a dance party. Drought may be to blame for the strange hue, scientists say, and they’re warning against entering the water or drinking it.
Staff at the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge on Maui have been monitoring the pink water since Oct. 30.
“I just got a report from somebody that was walking on the beach, and they called me up like, ‘There’s something weird going on over here,’” said Bret Wolfe, the refuge manager.
Wolfe was concerned the bright pink could be a sign of an algae bloom, but lab tests found toxic algae was not causing the color. Instead an organism called halobacteria might be the culprit.
Halobacteria are a type of archaea or single-celled organism that thrive in bodies of water with high levels of salt. The salinity inside the Kealia Pond outlet area is currently greater than 70 parts per thousand, which is twice the salinity of seawater. Wolfe said the lab will need to conduct a DNA analysis to definitively identify the organism.
Maui’s drought is likely contributing to the situation. Normally Waikapu Stream feeds into Kealia Pond and raises water levels there, but Wolfe said that hasn’t happened in a long time.
When it rains, the stream will flow into Kealia’s main pond and then into the outlet area that’s now pink. This will reduce the salinity and potentially change the water’s color.
“That might be what makes it go away,” Wolfe said.
No one at the refuge has seen the pond this color before — not even volunteers who have been around it for 70 years. The pond has been through periods of drought and high salinity before, though, and Wolfe isn’t sure why the color has changed now.
Curious visitors have flocked to the park after photos of the pink pond appeared on social media.
“We prefer that they come to hear about our our mission conserving native and endangered waterbirds and our wetland restorations. But no, they’re here to see the pink water,” Wolfe joked.
He understands everyone’s fascination.
“If that’s what gets them there, it’s OK,” he said. “It is neat.”
The wildlife refuge is a wetland that provides nesting, feeding and resting habitat to the endangered Hawaiian stilt, known as aeo, and the Hawaiian coot or alae keokeo. It also hosts migratory birds during the winter.
The water doesn’t appear to be harming the birds, Wolfe said.
As a wildlife refuge, people aren’t supposed to wade into the pond or let their pets in the water regardless of its color. But officials are taking an extra precaution to warn people not to enter the water or eat any fish caught there because the source of the color has yet to be identified.
veryGood! (45552)
Related
- Taylor Swift Politely Corrects Security’s Etiquette at Travis Kelce’s Chiefs Game
- Thor Actor Ray Stevenson Dead at 58
- ESPN's Shaka Hislop recovering after collapsing on air before Real Madrid-AC Milan match
- Do you freeze up in front of your doctor? Here's how to talk to your physician
- Whoopi Goldberg calling herself 'a working person' garners criticism from 'The View' fans
- Does sex get better with age? This senior sex therapist thinks so
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Targeted for Drilling in Senate Budget Plan
- What’s Driving Antarctica’s Meltdown?
- Taylor Swift's Dad Scott Swift Photobombs Couples Pic With Travis Kelce
- Angela Paxton, state senator and wife of impeached Texas AG Ken Paxton, says she will attend his trial
Ranking
- 'Devastation is absolutely heartbreaking' from Southern California wildfire
- Advisers to the FDA back first over-the-counter birth control pill
- CDC to stop reporting new COVID infections as public health emergency winds down
- North Dakota's governor has signed a law banning nearly all abortions
- Chrysler recalls over 200k Jeep, Dodge vehicles over antilock-brake system: See affected models
- Situation ‘Grave’ for Global Climate Financing, Report Warns
- America has a loneliness epidemic. Here are 6 steps to address it
- Energy Forecast Sees Global Emissions Growing, Thwarting Paris Climate Accord
Recommendation
-
Get Your Home Holiday-Ready & Decluttered With These Storage Solutions Starting at $14
-
Getting ahead of back-to-school shopping? The 2020 Apple MacBook Air is $100 off at Amazon
-
German Law Gave Ordinary Citizens a Stake in Switch to Clean Energy
-
South Dakota Warns It Could Revoke Keystone Pipeline Permit Over Oil Spill
-
How Ben Affleck Really Feels About His and Jennifer Lopez’s Movie Gigli Today
-
RHONJ: How Joe Gorga Drama Brought Teresa Giudice's Daughter to Tears During Her Wedding
-
Key takeaways from Hunter Biden's guilty plea deal on federal tax, gun charges
-
Climate Change Threatens a Giant of West Virginia’s Landscape, and It’s Rippling Through Ecosystems and Lives