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Geographical

Official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

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It’s a Barbie world – some pink natural wonders

20 July 2023
3 minutes

Elafonissi beach with pink sand on Crete, Greece
Discover the pinkest places in the world – like the Elafonissi Beach pictured here in Crete, Greece. Image: Shutterstock

From a baby-pink beach in Greece to the fluorescent lake off the coast of Australia, discover the most Barbie-pink natural wonders of the world 


By Victoria Heath

Think pink: these destinations, despite their luminous pink hues, aren’t from the set of the latest Barbie movie– they’re real landscapes from all corners of the globe. Pink is as extraordinary in nature as is in Hollywood films. Check out these five wonders – from lakes, to beaches, to huge blossoms of flowering moss. It’s a Barbie world.

Lake Hillier

Aerial view of Lake Hillier, Western Australia
Lake Hillier -in western Australia. Image: Shutterstock

The strawberry-milkshake-coloured, 182-metre (600 feet) Lake Hillier is on the Middle Island, the largest island in the Recherche Archipelago off the coast of Western Australia. The only living organisms in the highly saline lake (as salty as the Dead Sea) are microorganisms including Dunaliella salina, a red algae and a red halophilic bacteria, present in the salt crusts.

Elafonissi Beach

Elafonissi beach with pink sand on Crete, Greece
The perfect destination for the world’s biggest pink-lover, Elafonissi Beach in Crete. Image: Patryk Kosmider/Shutterstock

Located on Elafonisi Island, near southwestern Crete in Greece, Elafonisi Beach boasts clear, turquoise waters and baby-pink sand. The microorganism Benthic foraminifera – which developed 541 million years ago during the Cambrian period – lives in the sand. These tiny, bright pink or red-shelled animals congregate under rocks, reefs and caves. When these microorganisms die, their shells calcify and mix with the sand to create the beach’s characteristic pink colouring.

Takinoue Park

Landscape with pink flowers on the mountain, Takinoue, Hokkaido Japan.
Moss phlox in Takinoue Park, Japan. Image: Shutterstock

The arrival of spring in Hokkaido, Japan, brings the most fluorescent, highlighter-pink moss to Takinoue Park. This moss, shibazakura or moss phlox, is one of the largest blossoms of the plant in Japan. 

Between May and June, The Takinoue Moss Phlox Festival is held, inviting visitors to take helicopter rides to view the sweet-smelling pink blossoms. The flowering moss also appears in several other areas, such as the Hitsujiyama Park near Tokyo, or the ten-acre Higashimokoto Shibazakura Park

.

Las Salinas de Torrevieja

Aeria view of Las Salinas de Torrevieja,  Alicante, Spain
The salmony-pink hue of Las Salinas de Torrevieja. Image: Shutterstock

With high salinity and warm temperatures, Las Salinas de Torrevieja in Spain is the perfect breeding ground for the host of bacteria and algae that contribute to its striking colour.

A pink salt lake on Spain’s Costa Blanca, the lake’s colour is attributed to  a mixture of halobacterium and a micro-algae, Dunaliella salina which release a reddish-pink dye – and is a frequent location for pink flamingo that feed on algae-filled shrimp that contribute to their pink feathers.

In 2020, the reduced number of tourists due to the pandemic, coupled with an unusually rainy season, meant that flamingos returned to the site for the first time in 37 years, birthing more than 600 chicks in the lake. 

Pink Sands Beach

View of Pink Sands Beach, Harbour Island, the Bahamas.
The beach’s pink-coloured sand is caused by the reddish-pink pigment released by the crushed shells of microscopic bacteria. Image: Shutterstock

The Pink Sands Beach, located on Harbour Island in the Bahamas, is a beautiful, red-to-pink-to-white ombre sandy beach that stretches for five kilometres. The hue is caused by microscopic foraminifera bacteria.

Filed Under: Science & Environment Tagged With: Instagram

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Published in the UK since 1935, Geographical is the official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).

Informative, authoritative and educational, this site’s content covers a wide range of subject areas, including geography, culture, wildlife and exploration, illustrated with superb photography.

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