HONOLULU — The water in a pond on Maui in Hawaii has many people doing double takes because of its bright pink hue.
Scientists say that drought may be the reason why the water in the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge on Maui is a bright pink color, according to The Associated Press.
Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge staff have been reportedly monitoring the pink water since the end of October, the AP reported.
“I just got a report from somebody that was walking on the beach, and they called me up like, ‘There’s something weird going on over here,’” said Bret Wolfe, the refuge manager, according to the AP. Some of the concern at first was that the pink color was a sign of an algae bloom but lab tests came back and proved that it was not toxic algae causing. It was an organism called halobacteria.
Halobacteria is “a type of archaea or single-celled organism that thrive in bodies of water with high levels of salt,” the AP reported.
“Sure enough toward sunset the lighting was good, iI just happened to drive by and I was like, it’s like Pepto Bismol pink,” Travis Morrin, a Maui business owner and photographer, told HNN-TV.
“It just popped like crazy and at first I was like, I wonder what this is, I mean is it dangerous or something?” Morrin said. “But I have some friends who have assured me that it’s a natural phenomenon. It just never happens here on Maui.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the salinity in the Keālia Pond outlet is currently more than 70 parts per thousand which is also twice the salinity found in seawater.
Further DNA testings will need to be done to identify the organism, Wolfe said, according to the AP.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service suggests that people stay a safe distance from the area as a precautionary measure. They also recommended to not get in the water or eat any fish from it which includes the same for your pets.
