California 30th October, dawn among the tufa
Lee Vining lies near the shore of Mono Lake, a large expanse of extremely alkaline water. The lake formed in a depression after a volcanic eruption. Several streams feed it, but as there is no outlet, the water only leaves by evaporation and so the salt levels have gradually grown more and more concentrated. This alkaline water does not support much life except for brine shrimps which feed off algal blooms, but these shrimps and the black flies that eat them provide for a very large population of migratory birds. As Los Angeles enlarged the city created the rights to take water from a large area of southern California, including Mono Lake. Owens Lake dried up completely and Mono Lake was severely depleted, so much so that the tufa which is now seen along the shoreline emerged from above the waterline and the birds using the tufa islands for nesting were threatened by predators which could walk out along the exposed spits to eat the eggs and chicks. The salinity of the lake grew from 50gm/l in 1941 to 99gm/l in 1982 and the level dropped substantially. The Mono Lake Committee was formed by ecologists Davis Gaines and Sally Judy in 1978. They joined with The Audubon Society and fought a successful court case against Los Angeles to preserve Mono Lake. Since then the lake levels have gradually risen and the salinity levels have dropped but this has not not been helped by the drought California is currently going through.
The turrets of tufa seen along the southern shore were once underwater but now lie exposed on the banks and they are a little Mecca for photographers. So we emerged around 6.15 in the morning and drove down to the south shore to take pictures of a dramatically rising sun. As we walked down to the water we could smell the scrubby plants and the lake, a sort of sulphurous aroma which I get a whiff of every time I see the pictures! Being late autumn there were few birds present but on the other hand there were no flies which was a plus. Afterwards we went to the rather nice Latte Da Café and had breakfast, flat bread with mushrooms and cheese and plenty of coffee!
The turrets of tufa seen along the southern shore were once underwater but now lie exposed on the banks and they are a little Mecca for photographers. So we emerged around 6.15 in the morning and drove down to the south shore to take pictures of a dramatically rising sun. As we walked down to the water we could smell the scrubby plants and the lake, a sort of sulphurous aroma which I get a whiff of every time I see the pictures! Being late autumn there were few birds present but on the other hand there were no flies which was a plus. Afterwards we went to the rather nice Latte Da Café and had breakfast, flat bread with mushrooms and cheese and plenty of coffee!
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