I was really looking forward to our stop to photograph the Salton Sea. After three days of photographing the area I was discouraged and ready to leave.
You would have a good reason for mistaking this for a sunset over a Pacific Ocean beach. The Salton Sea is about 35 by 15 miles in size and is California's largest lake.
An early rising photographer finds a way through the muck to get close to water's edge.
I really wanted to get closer to the edge of the water so I could see some reflections of the clouds on what looked like calm water at the edge. But, the ground was rather squishy to walk on. I was careful. But, I tenderly took just one too many steps and I was ankle deep in horrible smelling and yuckie dark goo!
There is a mountain range to the west of the Salton Sea. It was a nice background to an interesting beach. The 'tubes' shown here are hollow and crunchy. I have no idea how they were formed.
More crunchy beach texture.
The salinity of the Salton Sea is about 56 grams of salt per liter. This is greater than the salt in the Pacific Ocean which is 35 grams per liter. It is less, however, than the Great Salt Lake. Tilapia were introduced as they can tolerate higher salinity. For some reason, dead tilapia are found by the thousands, washed up periodically onto the shore. It is thought that decreased oxygen and heat may kill them in such numbers.They slowly decay, adding crunch to the beach.
Incredibly, this polluted, shallow, and closed drainage basin is a 'crown jewel' of avian diversity (400 species of bird routinely found here). It is rivaled only by Big Bend National Park in Texas, a park we plan on visiting in January. The Salton Sea provides a major resting stop on the Pacific Flyway. Approximately 30% of the remaining population of the American White Pelican are found along the Salton Sea.
A kiss is just a kiss . . . (Sorry, I really felt for all the birds here!)
Every time these small birds lift their feet they bring up sludge.
Once the sun was up we walked along the beach. The back pack on this old bike's handlebars is a newer one and is being used by someone in the area.
An older boat with a new straw hat. This is the image as shot.
This image would fall in line with the more monochromatic images I have seen of Salton Sea.
Life is long gone from this tree. It now just waits in the most awful glop of polluted and poisoned water. No desaturation is needed here.
We photographed some of the local communities, Desert Shores, Salton City, Bombay Beach and a couple of others. They are, for all practical purposes, abandoned! Street after street of old, most often vandalized, and partially boarded up homes and trailers. At one time there were dreams of turning the whole area into a tourist and recreation destination. The deterioration of the environment dashed those dreams.
If any part of a structure is easily accessible it is painted and surrounded by trash. If one can find beauty in decaying man made structures and objects this is the place to visit.
One can only imagine now what this community looked like years ago when recreation on the Salton Sea was safe. This was once a 'boulevard'.
There are a number of date farms in the area. They provide a sense of normalcy and color. I could not get my brain wrapped around why I would choose to eat any produce within miles of the Salton Sea. Worse, I could not figure out how I would even know that the food I was eating came from farming in the area.
We decided to drive completely around Salton Sea. This was taken at our first stop as we rounded the southern tip and headed up the east side.
Pretty much the same scene as above. I desaturated my image. Steve left the color in.
Black and white processing, when used with a subject like this one, changes the focus completely (to me).
This scene was a real bummer!!! That colorful 'liquid' is effluent from one of the geothermal plants that was a good candidate for my super moon rise photography. The effluent stinks like a rotten egg. The sulfur dissolved in the steam below the sea bed is processed as the steam is used to generate electricity and then some of it is discharged, most likely from leaks at the geothermal plant.
Now I know why some photographs taken at the Salton Sea are converted to some variation of black and white. They are more artistic (?) and not so scary.
There are 13 geothermal plants listed in Salton Sea area. I had in mind a composition for the super-moon that would be rising the following day. I had seen some pretty interesting night photographs of the geothermal plants that are located on the eastern side of the lake. Using the Photographer's Ephemeris, I could plan exactly where to be so that the angle of the moon-rise would be right at the side edge and along the geothermal plant. Ideally, the composition would include some of the water in the Sea. Are you smiling yet?? This plant was too far away from water.
This is a different plant and closer to shore. It looked terribly run down but obviously still in use. There were pools of polluted water around the plant. The big pipes that apparently bring in steam or remove the cooled water are corroded and broken in places.
My heart was sinking fast. I could plot a location to place myself to get this plant across somewater and in the path of the rising moon. BUT! I would know what was behind any lights. Would my fabulous composition remind me of this terrible scene?
Agriculture activities take place right up to the road's edge across from the geothermal plants.
We continued to drive north on the east side of the Sea. This is a popular photographer's subject.
The inside of the boat reminded me of the fish skeletons on the beach.
At some point these may have been supporting structures for a pier.
I was looking for green!! Life!! We drove by this place and did a 'round a bout' to check it out. Those tall posts are dead palm tree trunks. Oh well.
This is the way I want to remember Salton Sea.