Remains of a pier and utility poles at the Salton Sea Naval Auxiliary Air Station. I shot this while I was out here showing a photographer from France some of the less-visited spots around the Salton Sea. The green slime is algae and it will begin to smell like sulphur (rotten eggs or sewage) when it dies and decays. Note that the Salton Sea isn't really polluted with sewage, but it can sometimes smell like it is due to the decaying algae. The Salton Sea Naval Auxiliary Air Station was an auxiliary field to NAS San Diego commissioned in 1942, had a barracks for over 600 men constructed there. It was disestablished in 1946. NAF El Centro then took over the facility using it for parachute tests of the manned space program and other military systems until 1979. There remains little if anything of the former field. The Salton Sea has taken over much of the runway. In 2001 the United States Bureau of Reclamation used the site to remove salt from the Salton Sea, as high salinity is a major problem facing the inland lake. They used modified snowmaking equipment and mine waste removal vehicles and continued testing for a year; however high energy costs and air quality issues forced the termination of this project.
Shot from the ruins of the jetty and boat ramp at Niland Marina County Park on the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea. While the park officially closed many years ago, it's still accessible an quite scenic and serene. Several abandoned bathroom buildings remain. Inland a small group of squatters(?) live in campers year-round as I see their trailers parked inland from here every time. The Salton Sea is home to many spectacular sunsets. I believe the moisture form the large lake does something to affect the clouds above it. I first became intrigued by the Salton Sea when I saw an exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts sometime in the early 2000's. Before then, I didn't even know the place existed. I shot this with a Canon 6D and Sigma 15mm EX DG lens at 1/25 sec f/7.1 ISO 400. I originally headed out here to shoot an expanding mud volcano that's threatening the nearby Highway 111 as well as Union Pacific railroad tracks. The mud volcano / mud pot was a bit sensationalized by the media and wasn't even worth a single camera phone shot. When I arrived, it wasn't bubbling or steaming at all. Fortunately the sunset forecast was looking good, so I decided to kill some time at Bombay Beach and then I headed back down here just before sunset to shoot this (part of a timelapse) as well as an after-dark timelapse sequence. #saltonsea #niland #nilandmarina #nilandcalifornia #california #desert #reflection
