Strange pink spots sometimes appear on the snow in alpine regions at an altitude of about 3.5 kilometers above sea level. Such a miracle of nature can be seen in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California or Greenland, the Caucasus mountains, or the Northern Urals. The main thing is to choose the right time: when the snow begins to melt and it seems wet from the spring sun, but the temperature has not yet warmed up very much. This phenomenon can usually be observed in the mountains in summer and spring when the temperature is slightly above freezing, but still low enough for the snow to melt completely.
If you see this snow, you might be surprised to find that it smells like watermelon! That's why it got the name "Watermelon snow".

For many centuries, this mysterious phenomenon has puzzled many researchers. The first mention of watermelon snow can be found in the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. Of course, in Antiquity, there were no explanations for this amazing phenomenon, but scientists continued to investigate this amazing phenomenon.

The closest to the truth was the Scottish botanist Robert Brown, whose opinion no one believed. He suggested that the pink color of the snow is given by special algae. It was his version that served as the basis for scientific discovery. Almost a hundred years later, it was possible to see the pink snow under a microscope and confirm Brown's seemingly fantastic theory: it's all about algae.

Chlamydomonas nivalis is the name of the algae that gives snow its watermelon color and characteristic smell. Its main feature is the possibility of existence at low temperatures.

Snow algae contain the red pigment astaxanthin, which gives them a pink hue. Algaes develop on the surface of water, ice, or snow and begin to bloom after cold weather: as soon as the snow begins to warm, snow algae turns pink. But this phenomenon does not always last long: plants already die at a temperature of +4. So to see it, you need to hurry because this phenomenon looks simply fantastic! We are sure you will enjoy watching this amazing phenomenon!