Bright Colors, Tiny Bugs

Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God

Kurt Vonnegut

Mike tasting the extremely salty pink water

Las Coloradas, at the northern tip of the Yucatan contains these amazingly pink salt lakes.  At probably 85% salt, Mike had to taste it. 
They are lakes where salt it mined.  Only a small extremophile called a halobacteria can live there.  It contains a purple pigmented protein that is used to absorb energy from the sun a lot like green chlorophyll does in plants.  I mistakenly thought the color came from tiny shrimp.

A few miles from there, a normal mangrove

Salt pile ready to ship out

Via boats

View from above.  Blue water on the right is much colder

Drying on the edges

White clouds, pink reflection, some salt lines showing above the water

Had to rinse off Nikki’s paws after that walk.

You can't say this is not taking your breath away.

Aerial pictures from expert vagabond.

Halobacteria fact – They are exposed to a high amount of UV radiation.  To compensate, they evolved a sophisticated DNA repair mechanism.  These DNA repairs are faster than any other organisms so they tolerate more UV radiation.  It is thought they could possibly survive on Mars.