Bubblegum Lakes

Where on Earth?
Western Australia
GPS Coordinates: 34°5′S 123°12′E

We’re flying above Australia’s rugged, wild coastline along the Southern Ocean. For mile after mile, empty sand dunes and thousands of tiny islands stretch out below us, until, like some pop art hallucination, a splotch of pink appears amid the greenery. At first it looks manmade: maybe a giant sheet of pink plastic or some kind of chemical pond caused by mining. But as we get closer and…