Amazing facts about the pink lake in Senegal that's almost as salty as the Dead Sea

Lake Retba, a coral-pink lake between white dunes and the Atlantic Ocean, is located less than an hour from Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

During the dry season, the three square kilometre lake's salt content even exceeds that of the Dead Sea. It has about 40% salt content. The flow of seawater and its evaporation is responsible for the high salt content. 

Why is it pink? The Dunaliella salina algae micro-algae creating a red pigment, the water turns pink in the light.

Many people work around the pink lake to harvest salt. Harvesting the salt from this sea is not a walk in the park. These young men apply shea butter on their bodies before getting into the ocean to protect their skin from the harsh salinity; otherwise, the salt will harm and cut their skin.

The wooden boat they hire to gather the salt is known as a pirogue, they can't use a metal boat because it will corrode right away.

Each harvester paddles using a long stick to push against the bottom of the lake to feel where the salt is. The salt harvesters fill 12 buckets with salt before throwing it into their boats over their heads. 

There are others, mostly women, who wait on land to transport and buy the salt from them. 

Two different varieties of salt are extracted and packaged: "medium salt," which is used in Senegal for cooking, and "big salt," which is used for preserving fish or makig leather.

Senegal is the number one salt exporter in Africa. 38,000 tons of salt are harvested from the lake every year.

Some fishes live in the lake and have adapted to its salt content, but they are pretty small.