As hundreds of millions of Americans prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving with a massive feast, park managers are warning aspiring chefs not to brine their turkey in Great Salt Lake.

The admonishment came after workers at the Utah park found a bird that had floated away, apparently while trying to tenderize it ahead of Thursday’s celebrations.

“Just your annual reminder not to use Great Salt Lake to brine your turkey,” Great Salt Lake State Park wrote on its social media feed this week.

“Not only is the salt level too high for a proper brine, the waves can be very strong and there’s a good chance you’ll lose the entire turkey like this person did.”

Accompanying the post was a photo of a bird carcass – still amazingly wrapped in its store-bought packaging – and covered in bits of grass and dirt.

The Great Salt Lake is one of the largest inland saltwater bodies in the world.

Human activities are putting enormous strain on the lake, which is an important tourist magnet for the region.

In 2022, water levels in the Great Salt Lake fell to their lowest level on record due to a combination of overconsumption in agriculture and mining, as well as a two-decade drought.

The water became so salty that brine shrimp, an important source of income for the local economy, began to die.

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