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Aussie pilot captures extraordinary moment during record-breaking event : 'Amazing scenes
An Australian pilot has captured an extraordinary moment in nature from above, showing "a serpent" formation emerge beneath the surface of a lake, formed by Pelicans chasing fish.
"Amazing scenes from Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, a serpent appears on the surface, formed by Pelicans chasing fish along the Warburton Creek, before it enters the lake," the Arid Air tour group wrote in a post online this week. The stunning shot, captured by Senior Pilot Tekin, was taken during a scenic flight "when the first of the pelicans arrived" around the inlet.
Located in South Australia's arid heart, Lake Eyre is the lowest natural point on the Australian continent. Most of the time, it's a white salt flat.
But when enough water reaches it, fed by distant rivers like Cooper Creek, the Diamantina, and Georgina, the basin transforms into Australia's largest lake, drawing birds, wildlife and awe-struck visitors.
Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre is filling for just the fourth time in the past 160 years. This year's flood is the result of a record-breaking convergence of rainfall across all three of the Lake Eyre Basin's major catchments — something not seen since 2010–11, and possibly longer. "All three of them have been concurrently in a record-breaking flood," Talia, an SA-based outback pilot, previously told Yahoo News.
"It's just such a rare sight, only the people who book these air tours can see it. It's an extremely remote area of extremely dry conditions.
"They call it a 'dry flood' because there's been no local rainfall in that area at all... so to see this lifeblood of water descending, trickling through the desert and knowing what it's going to leave behind — the greenery along the floodplain — it's just a once-in-a-lifetime, spectacular opportunity.
"You feel very privileged to see the rare sight that it is."
South Australia's Department of Environment reported last month that 600 to 1000 gigalitres of water are flowing into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in South Australia from western Queensland, after a 2,000 kilometre band of rain swept across the country in March.
The deluge saw parts of the Queensland outback go underwater, with residents cut off for weeks. Now the water is spilling into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, which has only filled to capacity three times in the past 160 years.
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The full inundation is expected to breathe life back into the salt lake's crust, its wildlife, and the surrounding vegetation. As floodwaters arrive, they trigger a remarkable transformation — rare and dormant species burst into life, and others are drawn to the lake in spectacular numbers.
Speaking to Yahoo News on Friday, an SA National Parks and Wildlife Service spokesperson said the best way to see Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre "and the hundreds of species of birdlife that it attracts", is from the air.
"But visitors can witness the spectacle of the lake from dedicated viewing points within Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park," they said. "The new management plan for the park, which was introduced in February this year, restricts recreational access to the lakebed, including visitors entering the lakebed on foot. All other recreational activities, including swimming, driving, boating and landing aircraft, are already restricted under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972."
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