Not only does the Sasyk-Sivash Lake look good on photos for Instagram, its pretty pink hue also hides a rare resource.

For centuries, the saltwater lagoon in the Crimean Peninsula has been a source of pink salt.

The lake gets its pink colour from the microalgae that thrive in salty conditions and produce high levels of beta-carotene, which is a reddish pigment that protects the algae from the region's intense sunlight.

Every autumn, seasonal workers harvest thousands of tonnes of pink salt for processing and export to Russia, the European Union and Japan.

The pink salt was once the main product traded by the region's merchants.