People feel sick after realising where most white sand actually comes from – The Mirror
Can’t wait to jet off and spend your days sunbathing on a dreamy beach? You may be put off after discovering what white sand is made of, and you can blame marine biologist professor Kory Evans
You might want to think twice before booking that beach holiday this year.
With summer quickly approaching, many Brits are desperate for a week or two in the sun – whether you're planning a weekend staycation in Cornwall or flying over to Spain for some cheap booze and gorgeous beaches. There's something about the sensation of your feet sinking into the sand as you take in the sound of waves that transports you to a state of pure bliss.
However, a marine biologist has kind of ruined the vibe, after explaining the difference between white and brown sand. Warning, it's pretty grim…
Speaking to WIRED, professor Kory Evans explains how white sand is 'generally derived from the shells of other animals' which is a little gross – but that's not the worse part. "Shells get broken down via wave action or animal feeding and brown sand is typically the result of rocks that have been eroded over time," the expert said.
"Most of the white sand comes from a very unlikely source and that is parrot fishes, they feed on coral skeletons and when they excrete they excrete it as this nice, fine, white sand." So yeah, the lovely white sandy beaches you've been dreaming of are effectively a bunch of parrot fish poop.
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Evans goes on to explain that one parrot fish, can produce around 450kg of poop every year. "That's a lot of poop and a lot of sand," he added. This is backed by the National Ocean Service who says the fish 'bite and scrape algae off of rocks and dead corals' using their parrot-like beaks.
They then 'grind up the inedible calcium-carbonate reef material, made mostly of coral skeletons, in their guts, and then excrete it as sand'. "At the same time that it helps to maintain a diverse coral-reef ecosystem, parrotfish can produce hundreds of pounds of white sand each year," the organisation added.
People took to social media to spread the disturbing reality, with one person writing: "Fun fact, the reason that some tropical beaches around the world have white sand is because parrot fish eat the coral and poop out the sand. The beaches are literally made from fish poo." Another said: "It never fails to flabbergast me that white beaches are made up of parrot fish poo."
The news certainly didn't go do well with holidaymakers, with one X (formerly Twitter) user declaring: "Yuk!" Another agreed, commenting: "White sand is made of coral that parrot fish have ate and pooped out. You're welcome for the fun fact of the day," to which another user wrote: "Stop." A third added: "[It's] just excreted batter *runs away forever*."
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