GHOST TOWNS PHOTOGRAPHY by Steve Bingham
Dusty Lens by Steve Bingham (Amazingly Gifted Eye)
“The Salton Sea is the largest inland body of water in California, and easily its most toxic. Once a haven for tourists, fishermen and boaters — in the 1950s it was touted as “the American Riviera” — years of polluted runoff from agricultural and industrial sites, not to mention untold amounts of untreated sewage from Mexico, pumped into the sea via one of America’s dirtiest waterways, the Northward-flowing New River, have turned the Salton into a truly foul place.” SwittersB’s Recent Trip too
“At one time the Salton Sea was among the state’s most productive fisheries. (During WWII, when German submarines made ocean fishing dangerous, most of Southern California’s fish were harvested in the Salton.) But steadily increasing levels of toxins, algae, salt and bacteria led to a number of massive die-offs — the largest, in 1999, killed 7.6 million fish — and its once-thriving population of migratory birds are sickened each year with selenium and botulism poisoning. The Sea is 25% saltier than the ocean and getting saltier every year…” (more to read)
We have a place @ Bombay Beach (Imperial County, CA). The trailer pic is is just over the dike that surrounds town @ 5th and E St. Over the years we have seen many photographers, college classes and photo shoots @ this location.
Hello Keith,
I wonder what your take on the area is…is it spoiled, natural, neglected, perfect? I have no opinion. I have only been thru there a couple times. The area is fascinating to me, but I wonder what you think.
SB
Would you please remove my copyrighted image from your web site. This image used to link to my web page, but no longer. As your site has some commercial value, this goes beyond any legal use. Should you wish to pay me for the image, I would be happy to accept. My standard web fee is $150. Also, for some reason, this is an inferior copy. Puzzled on this one. This photo has sold commercially for $1,500 so it is a money maker for me.
Sincerely,
Steve Bingham
“As your site has some commercial value, this goes beyond any legal use.” This is a non-commercial blog. I make no money highlighting your work nor anyone elses. If you don’t want me to highlight your work going forward, please let me know. Your picture…inferior quality or not, has been removed.
I cannot believe what I just read I had no idea about this body of water and how polluted it is! What I think need to be done is the need to dam the river right at our border with Mexico so that all their waste flows back into their country and they can have their own polluted body of water! This is unbelievable is that God I live near this festering body a water I have a two-year-old daughter and believe me anybody who lives near this pollution is only asking for problems later on in life. How could the people that live in Mexicali consciously pollute the water let alone swim in it just to cross the border on dumbfounded on the whole thing. How could any major governor or ruler of the country meaning the president of the United States allow this injustice, I believe that it’s allowed to happen because the bureaucratic policies that allow American companies to do business in Mexico let this happen everyone looks the other way until it’s too late but that’s my opinion and I know I’m right because if I wasn’t right then it would be okay to drink the water and nobody would be ill so with that said no one can drink the water and anyone who does will become ill or die, so think about it yours truly the illuminated one!
I’m amazed that you consider the Salton Sea polluted. You couldn’t be more wrong. Please scroll down to my post of November 4th and investigate the truth about the sea. I’ll say again, we eat the fish, we swim and we boat in the lake. After 25 years I’m still here and still healthy. Our lake is salty-period. We also have a high nutrient load, which means that there is a lot of nutrients that are left over from fertilizing the foods YOU eat. Our water is perfectly safe, unlike the waters off Malibu and other coastal areas.
In my opinion, the single most damaging thing about the sea is folks who say the kind of things you’ve said without being able to produce evidence. Please check your facts. I sited lots of sources to do just that.
I’m about to buy a property near salton sea. Recently I took a took a tour and to me it looks beatiful. Of course i didnt see to many people around because it is winter however the pelicans and the other birds looked beautiful to the eye. You are the first person who is writing positively about the lake. you seem to be happy here. Do you recommend me to buy this beautiful home in this area? to tell you the living here. i felt happy to read your blog. After reading so negative things about it, like in ten years is going to dry up and so on…. please respond i will greatly appreciate your opinion since i will invest in buying a home. grateful ann
I could be wrong, but I don’t think the Mexicali pollution or Maquiladoras have an influence upon the Salton Sea. Perhaps the other way around, but according to Jennie Kelly there is a misconception of pollution in the Salton Sea. I have been skeptical given the amount of agriculture in the area, but I am not expert for sure. I just find the area fascinating. In another life, I was in the region quite a bit around Thermal, Indio, Mecca, down to Hwy. 8. A very interesting area…visually and historically.
how do i find this awesome site? where this picture was taken?
Research the Bombay Beach area and write the photographer too. Also, those that cherish the region and mentioned in the post might steer you toward interesting discoveries. Not sure where you live, but if you are reasonably close then research places to camp or stage explorations over a weekend or week. Good luck! I would enjoy seeing anything you photograph along the way and what you discovered.
I was going to school you on the Salton Sea, but it seem the above comments all ready did. But, I will add something they left out, not on the lake but on photography. I been going to the lake for years to photography, but I always do research before I go. New or old location I always do the research first. That how I fond your blog I am doing research for trip to the Salton sea in January.
Hello Victor,
What an intriguing and amazing area! I hope you have a wonderful time exploring the region. It sounds as if it would take many trips to learn the history and hidden treasures of the historic passage way.
SB
Jennie Kelly is right. My family and I go out there several times a year. We just love it…and we have NEVER tasted tilapia so good before. I love that it is lonely, a great place to relax…without having a ton of other campers next to you disturbing peace. Ever since we found out about Salton Sea…we stopped going to other campgrounds. There is a certain time of the year it smells but If you know Salton Sea…then you’d know when not to go if your sensetive to that.
Here’s a bit of information available on the Salton Sea Authority’s website. it was written by the former superintendent of the Salton Sea State Park more than 10 years ago. The information is accurate, although we haven’t had a major fish die-off for several years and no bird death events. Please feel free to explore the other myths about the sea on this site. This one deals specifically with the ‘smell’ issue.
http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/myths.htm
“You recall that algal blooms are driven by the Sea’s high
nutrient loads and occur when winds (or a collapsing temperature inversion) bring nutrients to the surface of the water. Algal blooms commence very fast and with great vigor but quickly ebb and the alga dies. Microorganisms move in to “digest” the alga consuming oxygen and emitting a sulfur smelling gas! It’s these massive algal blooms that trigger the smell — it is the gasses produced by the decomposing bloom that you notice.
While these events happen rather frequently at the Sea during late summer and early spring, more often than not the Sea has a normal bio-smell. As the ocean has an odor of decaying vegetation, the Sea does too. As lakes smell when they turn over, so does the Sea. The Salton Sea is not bottled water quality; it will always have the smell of life. And this does not represent a negative biological event.
However, the odor that comes from massive algal blooms does signal a system that is in trouble just by the size of these events. We already understand that we can greatly reduce these algal blooms, subsequent fish die offs, and sulfur odor by drawing down the Sea’s nutrient load and to a degree by reducing its salt content. You’ll remember that I wrote that salt and nutrients are the major biological problems facing the Sea. Address these and we go a long way to creating a system that will be much healthier for a long time — and smell better too!”
Jennie….thanks for additional information…I have attached to original post.
Gary
Actually….heard today it smells really bad at the Salton Sea. My mom was telling me the Caspian Sea is starting to become like this. I would visit there when I was very young and remember bits and pieces, but not much.
I wish your research ability was as “amazingly gifted” as your photography. The Salton Sea is not polluted or toxic. It is increasingly saline which accounts for the reduced ability of sport fish to spawn. Agricultural runoff results in an increased NUTRIENT load to the lake. Nutrients are the excess fertilizers used in agriculture. Agriculture produces the foods you eat. Just as fruits and vegetables thrive on nutrients, so too do the occasional algae blooms when conditions are right. When the algae dies, the water is depleted of oxygen. Hence the occasional die-off of fish in localized areas. All are natural processes.
There is an amazingly large amount of accurate, scientific facts about the Salton Sea out there. You will find many links on http://saltonseachronicles.blogspot.com/ that you can follow to research the facts. The LEAST reliable source for information is the “I heard” source. Please, do your homework before spreading misinformation.
By the way, the anglers here on the lake use 5-gallon pails for their Tilapia catch. They’re frequently full when they head home. Yesterday I was watching them pull in two at a time, as fast as they could get their lines back in the water.
My friend Polly and I have always talked about driving here because it is only a few hours away from her house in California. But we have yet to do it. Now I am super curious.