On Christmas Day 2004, a party of tourists hiked to the Boiling Lake, only to discover that it was almost empty and no longer boiling. The Forestry Division were notified and on 28th December, a party of 4 Foresters hiked there to make a site inspection - see report. Our Forestry Division from then on carefully monitored the situation for the next 4 months, during which this page was updated several times with reports and photos, until the situation returned to its usual level in April 2005. .

Lake Crater Boiling Lake crater, contents drained, as photographed by Arlington James  of Forestry on December 28th 2004

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. This is, of course, a volcanic area, with much thermal activity in the immediate vicinity, and Forestry warned those planning to visit Boiling Lake of possible danger whilst the lake was in this state. This is not the first time that the lake has emptied. The first recorded occurrence was in April 1887, then again in December 1900, when an English visitor in the company of two guides lost his life, along with one of the guides, when both were overcome by thick sulphurous gas emitted from the empty crater. Shortly after that the lake refilled quickly. .

4 April 1887 archive photo of 2 persons standing in the Boiling Lake crater, when dry once before, courtesy of Dr. Lennox Honychurch, Dominican artist, historian and author - website

. It also happened in 1971 and again in 1988, when it remained empty for over a month. There were, fortunately, no casualties on these occasions. In April 2003, though it did not empty, the water was observed to become clouded and dark grey in colour, whilst the smell of sulphur pervaded the air throughout the entire Roseau Valley area for several weeks.

In late November 2004, an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 lasting about 1 minute, occurred in the Guadeloupe Channel to the north of Dominica, followed in the subsequent days by several strong tremmors. As is to be expected following an earthquake, many minor tremmors continued to be felt in the weeks which followed, subsiding gradually. This activity no doubt contributed to the situation we witnessed at the Boiling Lake.

Below are the updates we posted during 2005, as the conditions varied for serveral months following, till eventually the Boiling Lake settled down returned to its normal state.

On January 13th 2005, a party of visitors to the Boiling Lake noted that it has begun to refill, though it is not yet boiling. Also, a new fumarole has openned on the far bank, with water from it now flowing into the lake.

On January 18th 2005, Forestry again inspected the lake along with a party of French geologists.
On this occasion the level of the lake was noted to have fallen back slightly and the water colour had become a paler, more turquoise colour. Very little bubbling, except for along the western edge of the water. The centre of the lake was still, save for one or two small bubbles which were not easily discernable. No steaming and no warm air was felt.

No swimming !

 

Crazy Austrian Don't try this!

Towards the end of January, members of a party of Austrian visitors were observed swimming in the Lake, followed about 2 weeks later by a Spaniard (complete with mask & snorkel!). If you are planning to visit the lake whilst it remains in this unpredictable state, then please exercise caution - do not under any circumstances attempt to swim, and keep your proximity to the lake as brief as you can. When changes to the lake's condition do take place, past records indicate that they can happen swiftly and with little warning.

 

Update 2

Forestry again monitored the condition of the lake on Friday, Jan 28th 2005, noting little change. Some 5 weeks since it emptied, the water level continues to fluctuate and was noted to have in fact dropped slightly from their previous visit, to around 9 to 10 feet below normal.

Forestry  inspected the lake again on Friday, Feb 11th 2005, noting the water to be a little greyer and slightly higher than previously, at around 6 - 7 feet below normal, though a tour operator reported a very low water level just the previous day, indicating that there is some serious fluctuation taking place.  The water temperature was measured at 20° Celsius.

 

Cold & grey Lake level higher, though reported to be fluctuating, as photographed by Arlington James of Forestry on February 11th 2005

A subsequent visit by a party of visitors on Monday, Feb 14th, noted that the lake had completely refilled, though it had not yet returned to its boiling state. Another occurrence which may be of significance was another tremor out to sea that same day at 2.05pm of magnitude 5.9 which lasted about 10 seconds, centred approx. 15 miles WNW of Portsmouth.

Update 4

On Monday, Feb 21st, the water level was noted by Forestry to have again dropped to approx, 15 feet below normal and the water temperature had dropped slightly to 18° Celcius. Fewer bubbles could be seen and a whif of sulphurous gas was noted whilst a water sample was being taken from the lake. After a week or more of relatively hot, dry weather, Foresrty's inspection on March 7th revealed the lake to be almost empty once again, but with the bubbling intensified though not yet boiling. Conditions were not regarded safe enough to venture to the water's edge to measure the water temperature on this occasion..

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21st Feb      7th March Boiling Lake still fluctuating though bubbling more,  as photographed by Arlington James of Forestry.

Update 5

Further inspections were made by Forestry on March 18th and 31st, at which times conditions were very similar - water level low, water colour turquoise and climatic conditions relatively dry. At the most recent inspection on April 13th, the lake was noted to be almost completely full, just an estimated 15"- 20" below high water mark, and appears to be returning to it's "normal" boiling condition. Bubbling was noted not only from its centre, but to a lesser extent all around its surface and edges. The vigour off the lake was estimated to be about 50 to 75% of its normal strength, though the heavy cloud of steam that is normally associated with the lake when boiling "regularly" has not yet returned. As in more normal times, gas is sometimes released in stronger bursts, with the "column" of hot liquid rising about 1ft above the surface. Water colour - jet black. Water temperature at edge - just under 60° Celcius, still well below the 92°C to be expected when the lake is boiling at full strength.

Other recent visitors to Boiling Lake report it to have been in this state since April 10th..

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31st March           13th April  Boiling Lake at last returning to normal after 15 weeks, as photographed by Arlington James of Forestry.

Update 6, October 2005

Following the April 13th inspection, the lake's boiling increased whilst it continued to fill, gradually regaining the high water mark and losing some of the black colouring to the water. By late April it had returned to its regular boiling condition, discharging at a constant rate once again at the outflow.
This is the origin of the 'White River' which flows in a South Easterly direction, reaching the Atlantic Ocean by Pointe Mullatre, near to the village of Delices. The spectacular Victoria Falls occurs on this river, about an hour's hike upstream from Delices.

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Victoria Falls                . Boiling Lake is now back to normal though water still dark in colour,  as photographed by Arlington James of Forestry on June 23rd, 2005

Boiling Lake continues to be monitored by the Forestry Division and is now regarded to have settled back down to its normal condition, continuing to attract our visiting hikers.

 

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