The Salton Sea is part of an ancient geological region that alternately transforms between aqueous lakes and a barren desert basin every 400-500 years. The last cycle created Lake Cahuilla until it dried out about 600 years ago. It plays an important role in this region's ecosystem but is threatened by neglect and climate change.
It was accidentally flooded in 1905 by engineers building runoff canals from the Colorado River. The canals were overwhelmed and started flooding. It took two years to repair those canals, but it was too late. By then the desert basin had flooded 60 feet deep covering an area of 350 square miles. The modern Salton Sea was born.
It was accidentally flooded in 1905 by engineers building runoff canals from the Colorado River. The canals were overwhelmed and started flooding. It took two years to repair those canals, but it was too late. By then the desert basin had flooded 60 feet deep covering an area of 350 square miles. The modern Salton Sea was born.
The lake attracts thousands of migrating birds from over 400 species. Here a sea gull flies overhead as an egret wallows on the shallow shoreline. As climate change brings warmer temperatures, the lake shrinks at a faster rate threatening this vital wetland. Fourteen square miles have evaporated over the last decade, and the ensuing exposed sediment threatens the air quality of southern California and northwest Mexico.
City lights from Coachella in the distance illuminate the lake's shore. Today, the Salton Sea sees it's biggest crowd during the annual Coachella Music Festival where hundreds of festival goers have rediscovered it allure. That's in contrast to just 60 years ago when thousands flocked year-round to enjoy the lake.
These alkali goldenbrush turns brown during the summer to conserve water. The Salton Sea acts as an oasis for the surrounding Colorado Desert.
Great blue herons and yellow-footed gulls bask in the morning sun. Great blue herons can adapt to almost any wetland habitat. Yellow-footed gulls are native to the Gulf of California in Mexico, and in the United States they can usually be seen only in the Salton Sea during the non-breeding season.
One of the least well known shorebirds, this Hudsonian Godwit breeds in the Arctic and travels to South America for winter.
Here it picks at a swell of dead tilapia. Saltier than the Pacific Ocean the increasing salt levels of the lake make it difficult for tilapia to survive resulting in mass die-offs--their carcasses littering its shores.
A male American avocet. This shorebird breeds in the western Great Plains and winters in California and Mexico using this lake as a waystation.
An alder flycatcher. These insect-eating birds migrate to South America staying near water.
Evaporation can be seen in the horizon in this view from Mecca Beach at the eastern shore of the Salton Sea. Estimates by the Pacific Institute predict the lake will lose 100 square miles of its shoreline by 2030.
Small algae ponds can be seen all along the lake's shoreline. Despite pesticides and the water's high salinity, the lake still provides a nutrient rich environment for algae to thrive.
Sunlight from the setting sun illuminates smog from the Inland Empire. The lake plays a role in keeping tons of pesticides and contaminants in its silty bottom from being blown by the desert westward into Southern California and Mexico.
Dead tilapia litter the shores of the lake leaving it murky under the morning sun. Despite having salinity levels that's 25 percent more than sea water some fish still manage to survive these harsh conditions.
