Lake Retba, also known as Lac Rose (meaning " pink lake"), lies north of the Cap Vert peninsula in

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, some north-east of the capital,

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, in northwest Africa. It is named for its

pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

waters caused by ''

Dunaliella salina ''Dunaliella salina'' is a type of halophile unicellular green algae especially found in hypersaline environments, such as salt lakes and salt evaporation ponds. Known for its antioxidant activity because of its ability to create a large amoun ...

'' algae and is known for its high

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

content, up to 40% in some areas. Its colour is usually particularly strong from late January to early March, during the dry season. Flooding in September 2022 not only disrupted salt harvesting activities on the lake, but also led the lake to lose its colour, causing a negative effect on tourism. However, as of 2025, the lake has regained some of its colour. The lake is under consideration by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Description

The lake is situated north-east of

, separated from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

only by a narrow corridor of dunes, and is named for its

waters, which are caused by ''

'' algae. The algae produce a red pigment to help them absorb sunlight, which gives them energy to create ATP, a

nucleotide Nucleotides are Organic compound, organic molecules composed of a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both o ...

that is necessary to produce

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

. The colour is particularly visible during the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

(from November to May) and less visible during the rainy season (June to October).

Salt

The lake is known for its high salt content (up to 40% in some areas), which is mainly due to the ingress of seawater and its subsequent evaporation. Like the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

, the lake is sufficiently buoyant that people can float easily. Salt is exported across the region by up to 3,000 collectors, men and women from all over western Africa, who work 6–7 hours a day. They protect their skin with ''beurre de Karité'' (

shea butter Shea butter ( , , or ; ) is a fat (triglyceride; mainly oleic acid and stearic acid) extracted from the nut of the African shea tree ('' Vitellaria paradoxa''). It is ivory in color when raw and commonly dyed yellow with borututu root or ...

), an emollient produced from shea nuts which helps avoid tissue damage. The salt is used by Senegalese fishermen to preserve fish, which is an ingredient in many traditional recipes, including the national dish, which is a fish and rice combination called thieboudienne. About 38,000 tonnes of salt are harvested from this lake each year, which contributes to Senegal's salt production industry. Senegal is the number-one producer of salt in Africa.

Flooding

In 2022, severe flooding caused by torrential rains in Dakar devastated the lake. The floods breached its banks and contaminated its waters, turning its characteristic pink hue to green. This transformation threatens the ecosystem and economy of the area, impacting salt farmers, boatmen, souvenir vendors, and tourism. The flooding destroyed USD$696,000 worth of salt mounds, submerged businesses, and disrupted the lake's unique

microbiome A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably wel ...

, jeopardizing future harvests and tourist visits. The lake has since partially regained its pink hue.

Wildlife

Despite the high

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

of the lake, which can reach as high as 350 g/L during the

, blackchin tilapia have been found living in

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

sections fed fresh water by an intermittent creek.

World heritage listing

Lake Retba has been under consideration by

as a

since October 2005, and remains so .

Motorsport

The lake was often the finishing point of the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally () or simply "The Dakar" (), formerly known as the Paris–Dakar Rally (), is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). It is an off-road endurance event traversing terrain much tougher than convent ...

, before the rally moved to South America in 2009. In 2021, it hosted a round of the Extreme E electric off-road racing series.

References

External links

Lake Retba''Senegal’s Pink Lake''
Al Jazeera English, October 2021 (video, 46 mins) {{DEFAULTSORT:Retba Lakes of Senegal Saline lakes of Africa