Laguna de Leche is the largest natural fresh water lake in Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

. It is located in the wetland of northern Ciego de Ávila Province

Ciego de Ávila Province

Ciego de Ávila is one of the provinces of Cuba, and was previously part of Camagüey Province. Its capital is Ciego de Ávila, which lies on the Carretera Central , and the second city is Morón, further north....

, 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Morón

Morón, Cuba

Morón is one of ten municipalities in province Ciego de Ávila in central Cuba. It is the second in importance and the oldest. Morón is the closest city to the tourist resorts on Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo.- Geography :...

, and has a total surface of 67.2 square kilometres (25.9 sq mi). (The man-made Zaza Reservoir

Zaza Reservoir

Zaza Reservoir is the largest man-made reservoir in Cuba. It is located in the Sancti Spíritus Province in central Cuba, south-east of the city of Sancti Spíritus and north-west of La Sierpe. It has a water mirror area of...

, at 113.5 km² (43.8 sq mi), is the largest in-land water surface by area in the country.)

The white color is caused by the lake's limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 bed. Natural movements of the sea level cause disturbances in the water table, which releases lime

Lime (mineral)

Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...

 particles from the lake bed into the water.

A channel built in 1940 (Chicola Channel) connected the lake to the Bay of Buena Vista

Bay of Buena Vista

The Bay of Buena Vista is a bay on Cuba's northern Atlantic shore. It is located in the northern part of the provinces of Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara and Ciego de Ávila, between mainland Cuba and the archipelago that lines its northern coast....

, allowing for the sugar processed in Morón to reach the small port of Chicola. In the process, the lake was contaminated with sea water, and it lost its characteristic white color. The channel was closed in 1988, and the milky color gradually recovered.

The Caribbean Flamingo

Caribbean Flamingo

The American Flamingo is a large species of flamingo closely related to the Greater Flamingo and Chilean Flamingo. It was formerly considered conspecific with the Greater Flamingo, but that treatment is now widely viewed as incorrect due to a lack of evidence...

finds a natural habitat in the lake and its islands