A stunning feature of Yellowstone National Park has fallen victim to vandalism – and concerned locals are pointing their fingers at tourists.
The Morning Glory Pool had clear-blue waters until tourists became infatuated with the site’s beauty.
Now, the thermal pool in the Upper Geyser Basin near the famous Old Faithful has a totally different look. The crystal water now has distinctive shades of orange, yellow, green and blue.
The colors are appealing to visitors – but they actually indicate the water’s pollution.
Tourists have thrown thousands of pounds of trash, coins, rocks and logs into the pool over the years, according to the National Park Service.
Yellowstone National Park historian Alicia Murphy told the Cowboy State Daily: ‘I think many people like to throw things into pools. Wishing wells are a time-honored tradition.
‘There is something about a pool of water that gives humans a weird instinct to throw things into it.’
But this contamination is nothing new. It began when the pool was first noticed by tourists in the 1800s and by the 1950s, it was unrecognizable.
The geyser was informally dubbed the ‘garbage can’, according to National Parks Traveler.
Yellowstone National Park, located mainly in Wyoming with parts in Idaho and Montana, is home to over 500 geysers.
In 1991, a team was tasked with cleaning out the Morning Glory Pool in an attempt to restore it.
Jeff Henry, who was a part of that team, told the Cowboy State Daily: ‘We used a couple of fire trucks to pump down the pool’s water level and shoot it into the Firehole River.
‘A guy was hooked up to a climbing harness so that he wouldn’t fall into the pool, and he was out there with a long-handled net, fishing things out of the water far down into the crater of the pool.
‘I remember joking about how we were practicing scald and release fishing that day.’
The pool is about 23 feet deep and 160F.
Henry said the clean-up led to the discovery of thousands of coins, metal car parts, rocks that ‘didn’t belong there’ and hats that likely flew off tourists’ heads.
Newer trash was able to be removed, but older items tossed in the pool were already embedded in it, causing irreversible damage.
Many nature-lovers and locals have been vocal with their outrage about yet another landmark being harmed by human touch.
The careless tourist habits have caused a pool’s temperature to decrease overtime, which is the main cause of the color changes, Yellowstone Volcano Observatory scientist Mike Poland told the Cowboy State Daily.
He said to the outlet: ‘Temperature is a huge factor. Hotter pools tend to be a brilliant blue, and cooler pools can be more colorful since bacteria can grow there.
‘At Morning Glory, the temperature cooled because people throwing objects in caused the conduit to become partially blocked, and the temperature went down, allowing different types of bacteria to grow.’
The geyser was once roughly 12F hotter than it is today.
One Reddit user wrote: ‘F*** sake. Probably the same f***ing idiots who are constantly building “cute” rock piles everywhere they go ripping rocks out the ground and hastening erosion.’
Another Redditor offered some advice to tourists planning to visit the national park: ‘So I live in Montana and have visited Yellowstone many times. Morning Glory Pool and Old Faithful among many others are an amazing sight!
‘If you have the patience sit and wait for Old Faithful to erupt… takes roughly 90 minutes. You won’t be disappointed!
‘Also if you’re a tourist please stay on the paths, and DO NOT attempt to get close to the geothermal events aka the extremely hot water holes.’
In 1981, a 24-year-old California man named David Kirwan died after jumping into the scorching Morning Glory after a friend’s dog and burned to death, according to Snopes.
Yellowstone National Park has seen plenty of ‘moron tourists’ that ruin the experience for those trying to enjoy the park’s natural beauty.
An Instagram account called ‘Tourons of Yellowstone’ – ‘Touron’ combines ‘tourist’ and moron’ – is dedicated to showing off the mindless and detrimental actions of obnoxious visitors.
Another reason tourist may be tempted to throw things into the geyser is to try and make it erupt, but Murphy explained why this is unreasonable. This was especially common during the park’s early days.
She told the Cowboy State Daily: ‘People didn’t understand the plumbing and how geysers worked. There were lots of ideas about, “If we throw something into this pool, we might be able to make it erupt.”
‘I think there was some trial and error and a misunderstanding of the damage they were doing.’
The Morning Glory Pool was named after its resemblance to a Morning Glory Flower. But since its color shift, this comparison has become a stretch.
Experts do think that there is hope for the park and its vibrant features, including the Morning Glory Pool.
Henry told the Cowboy State Daily: ‘I think people are much more respectful than they were in my early days.’