Old abandoned pier on the Salton Sea at Bombay Beach, CA. White material on flagpole and ground is salt. The Salton Sea was manmade by mistake when a canal flooded in the early 1900s, and now collects runoff from farming in the area. The water has no outlet so it evaporates and leaves salt and nitrates from fertilizer. The beach "sand" is actually crushed fish bones from attempts to stock the lake.