Three quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. Our planet is home to many incredible natural wonders and some of the most amazing sites you’ll ever see are our lakes, rivers and oceans. You’re probably picturing the calm, vast oceans and the shallow turquoise waters. Well, there are several water bodies whose structure and appearance will give you shivers as the Earth continues to be a mysterious place with interesting phenomena. Let’s explore five of these watery wonders.

1. Blood Falls

Blood Falls flows out of the Taylor Glacier in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys. Blood Falls, named for its color, is actually not a bloody gush from an unnoticed wound. Even from satellite imaging, the staining of this bright red feature can be seen. Initially this oddity was attributed to red algae but this was debunked. The color is a result of iron rich hyper-saline water oxidizes and gushes out of the mouth of the glacier. Since saltwater has a lower freezing point than pure water and releases heat as it freezes, it melts the ice, allowing the subglacial rivers to flow.

2. Sea of Stars 

Can you imagine floating in a sea of water that glows like a starry night sky? Well, the Sea of Stars is a spectacular phenomenon that is observed during the late summer in the reefs of Vaadhoo Island, Maldives. This occurs as a result of the bioluminescent phytoplankton Lingulodinium polyedrum, a species of photosynthetic dinoflagellates. The plankton are in abundance in the water and the waves’ motion causes them to glow, which gives the effect that the sea is filled with stars.

3. Lake Hillier 

Lake Hillier is located in Middle Island off the coast of Western Australia. This natural wonder is only 600 meters long and did not make this list because of its size, but because of its pink color. Lake Hillier is adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, making the contrast between the lake’s pink color and the ocean’s deep blue color remarkable from above. Scientists have made many claims regarding the reason for this phenomenon, but many believe that the color is because of the presence of Dunaliella salina microalgae.

4. The Dead Sea 

The Dead Sea is a salt lake surrounded by Jordan to the east and Israel to the west. It is located at the lowest point on Earth and is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world. Due to the water’s extreme sanity, the Dead Sea is considered a harsh environment in which aquatic plants and animals cannot survive. However, there are some types of microorganisms that can flourish in these conditions. The Dead Sea is known for its high concentration of minerals in the water and mud which have a therapeutic effect. The concentration of salt makes the water denser than plain freshwater, thus allowing swimmers to float more easily.

5. Devil‘s Kettle Waterfall

Devil‘s Kettle Waterfall at Judge C.R Magney’s State Park in Minnesota, is one of many great mysteries. What makes this waterfall eerie is not its name, but rather, what happens to the water after it drops. Many see it as an eccentric natural activity- even magic some believed. The waterfall splits in two with one flowing down naturally and the other dropping down 10 feet into a huge dark hole with no outlet. For a long time, people tried to uncover the truth of this waterfall. In 2017 it was determined that the water flowing into the Devil’s Kettle was deposited back into the Brule River from where it came.