Utah Mysteries and Urban Legends: Why Does The Great Salt Lake Stink?

Spending time at the Great Salt Lake is a fun family activity,
but sometimes the smell can be overwhelming.
What IS that smell?!

The age-old mystery of Utah and especially Salt Lake City is "WHY does the Great Salt Lake stink?!" It seems that everybody has their own theory, so let's explore those most talked about:
Rumor #1: "It's the salt content!"

If you've ever walked along the shores of the
Great Salt Lake, you will without a doubt see large
swarms of flies

According to the Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Project, the hyper-saline environment of the Great Salt Lake is what makes it smell. According to their website, "Most hyper-saline environments favor bacterial sulfate reduction and one of the byproducts is hydrogen sulfide—the culprit that smells like rotten eggs. In addition to hyper-salinity, GSL sports a relatively low water depth and low oxygen levels. This creates an environment where aerobic (non-smelly, oxygen using) bacteria quickly run out of available oxygen and the population balance swings to anaerobic (smelly) bacteria in order to decompose available organic matter (waste) without the use of oxygen."
Rumor #2: "It's the brine shrimp!" According to the Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Project, the brine shrimp and fly populations increase in mid-May, and consume algae and bacteria, causing the smell to be less than what it would be without them. With that in mind, it is also proven that brine fly pupae casings, brine shrimp and decaying algae smell really bad, especially when they are washed up on the shore and have the hot sun baking down on them. This adds to the stink that we smell. Have you ever taken a sailboat ride to the middle of the lake? There is no smell out there, which leads me to believe it's not the actual brine shrimp that stink, but the brine shrimp waste and other materials mentioned that cause the awful smell. That leads me to think that rumors #3 and #4 are more credible: 
Rumor #3: "It's the wetlands!"

Many say that the wetlands are to blame for the smell

Captain JR of Great Salt Lake Experience claims that the awful smell from the lake is the wetlands. This makes the most sense, because when you go to the middle of the lake, there is no smell. The only time you smell it is when you are on the shores. The mossy atmosphere, combined with the brine shrimp waste and other materials that wash up on shore and bake in the hot sun, would most definitely cause a funky smell!
Rumor #4: "It's all the garbage that's been dumped in there!"

According to the Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Project, and taken from their website, "Sewage facilities on GSL unload their processing effluent into the lake. Researchers found that Farmington Bay specifically has far more productivity (i.e., algae and bacteria) than any of the other bays around GSL. That means bacteria have to work overtime to decompose effluent nutrients in addition to bird, brine fly, and brine shrimp waste! Thank goodness that the brine shrimp and fly populations peak around mid-May to consume as much algae and bacteria as they do, or the potential smell during the summer months would be unbearable. Yay brine shrimp! Suggestions have been made to attempt diluting the overflow of sewage to help lessen the smell and bolster tourism. Even then, there would be residual (though probably not as overwhelming) smell from brine fly pupae casings, brine shrimp and decaying algae that are continually washed up on the shore in enormous decomposing piles and are made worse with the heat."
MY CONCLUSION: All of the above?! To me it seems that because of the brine shrimp waste and other waste dumped into the lake by humans, when it washes up on shore, the high salt content causes higher levels of algae, and when this sits in the wetlands under the hot sun, the smell is worsened. All of those dead seagull carcasses all over the shores can't help the smell either!
What do YOU think? Leave a comment letting us know if we have "solved" the case of the stinky lake, or if you have another theory!
Read more about Utah's Mysteries and Urban Legends.
In the video below, Captain JR of Great Salt Lake Experience explains that the smell of the lake is from the wetlands.