Osprey Tufa Perch

Oasis in the Desert: Mark Twain called Mono Lake the "Dead Sea of California," but nothing could be further from the truth. Mono is one of the most productive lakes in the West, teeming with plants and animals that have adapted to its salty, alkaline (soapy) waters. Mono Lake's abundant aquatic life makes it one of the most important wetlands in the entire western hemisphere for migrating and nesting birds.

The Mono Lake tufas form because of an underwater chemical reaction of calcium rich fresh water springs bubbling up in the carbonate loaded lake leaving a calcium carbonate salt deposit called tufa. In time these springs form the vertical towers we see today.

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