The Salton Sea is an incongruous sight: a huge body of water in the middle of a desert. And with good reason. California's largest lake was created purely by accident in 1905 when floodwaters from the Colorado River burst past a series of dams and settled in a naturally salty depression more than 228 feet below sea level. Ever since, the lake has been a Southern California oasis, rich in wildlife. Its future, however, is in doubt.
The Salton Sea was once a popular place for boating, swimming, fishing, etc., but an increase in the salt level of the water caused large numbers of fish to die and the water became foul. This, in addition to a couple of hurricanes in the 1970's, caused the communities surrounding the sea to deteriorate.
The Salton Sea was recently featured on Life After People on the History Channel.
These days there are NOT that many dead fish on the shores - in fact, on doesn't really smell dead fish around the shores anymore.
The Sea itself is technically safe to swim in. The lake is NOT polluted with sewage, rather there are times of year when the decaying algae blooms give off a surfer odor which only smells like sewage. I must say, again, that the smell from the lake has actually been decent lately.
I have several hundred Salton Sea photos - including many of what is seen in this video - on my Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/slworking/sets/72157605264326878/
Visit the Salton Sea State Recreation Area: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=639
Check out the Salton Sea History Museum website: http://saltonseamuseum.org/
Grand reopening of the Salton Sea History Museum. Now located at 72-120 S. Lincoln Street (end of road across creek), Mecca, CA 92254
News video: http://www.kesq.com/video/30403959/index.html
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Salton-Sea-History-Museum/125597164130869
Museum homepage: http://www.saltonseamuseum.org/
Want to learn more about the Salton Sea? Check out following videos:
* Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea
* Past Pleasures at the Salton Sea
You can purchase the DVDs here: http://www.saltonseadoc.com/shop/catalog
Or, you can rent via the first title via NetFlix: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Plagues_Pleasures_on_the_Salton_Sea/70079183
Visit my Salton Sea page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=salton+sea&init=quick#!/group.php?gid=64337476896
