Locals warned to stay away after Australian swamp mysteriously turns pink

People have been warned to stay away from a Queensland, Australia waterway that mysteriously turned pink, seemingly overnight.

Boondall Wetlands, in the Moreton Bay region north of Brisbane, experienced a radical change in color this week.

In a photo shared to Reddit, a section of the vast mangrove forest appeared a bright, strawberry milk pink.

“Boondall Wetlands looking a little polluted today,” the person who shared the photo wrote.

They went on to explain that “the water in the rest of the wetlands is a normal color” and “the pink water is directly beside the Nudgee dump”

Some users worried the waters had become polluted by the nearby waste management area, but others said the bizarre coloring was more likely due to a natural algal bloom.

“Crikey, that looks terrible, I hope someone in the relevant government department checks this out and sorts it out,” one person wrote.

Others joked it might be the result of a botched gender reveal or the “tears of 10,000 Lions and Broncos fans” after Queensland’s loss in both the NRL and AFL grand finals on the weekend.

A Brisbane City Council spokesperson said the council was unaware of what had caused the strange change in color and confirmed council officers will visit the site and assess the water quality.

The spokesperson stressed that pink water can occur naturally, particularly in hot and dry weather.

“Warmer weather and low rainfall can lead to less water flow and higher salt levels, causing the algae and bacteria in the water to turn pink,” the spokesperson said.

Environmental scientist Michele Burford from the Australian Rivers Institute agreed the pink color could be due to an algal bloom, since there is a type of algae that is pink.

The algae could have been washed in by the tide or risen below the surface, she added.

“Sometimes, if the weather conditions are right and it’s really calm, the algae can sort of swim up to the surface and then get blown in if there’s a little bit of breeze that can just push it into the shore,” Burford told Yahoo.

“So sometimes you do see that kind of concentration effect happening because of that.”

While Burford said it was possible there was a pollution problem, she thought it was unlikely because the wetlands are “a pretty clean area.”

If the pink coloration is due to algae, Burford said it won’t last long, “usually just a few days,” but she urged people to stay away for fear it may be toxic.

“It’s a good idea for people if they see it not to go wading around in it, just in case,” she said.

“It’s hard to say for sure [if it’s toxic] but it’s always a good precautionary principle. It’s like any sort of green, slimy stuff you might say. It’s not a good idea to go wading around in it.”

If the potential algae is toxic, it can cause irritation to the skin, Buford added.

“You might get some sort of dermatitis or rash or something like that if it has got some toxins in it.

“If you do come into contact with it, wash it off as soon as you can so you minimize the effect and definitely do not let animals into it or drink from it,” she said.