The surreal landscape of Mono Lake, which is more than twice as salty as the sea, covers some 60 square miles in eastern California. These particular formations, called tufas towers, are formed by the high mineral content left behind from evaporation. These particular landlocked tufas were once in the water, but the siphoning off of water from the Eastern Sierra to slake the thirst of Los Angeles resulted in the tufas being exposed on dry land. A lawsuit resulted in the establishment of regulations that limit the level of water Los Angeles can remove from the Mono Lake basin. Mono Lake is a nesting area for California's seagulls and a major stopover for migratory birds.