Bermuda pink sands may not remain pink
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Bermuda's Pink Sands is probably one of the main reasons the island is so well known for other than of course the
Bermuda Triangle. The color pink has been widely loved and adopted all over the island. Look at the buses, the houses and the clothes the Bermudians wear ... there are so much of pink in all these.
And it's all because of the pride that Bermudians take in the color pink because of their unique pink sandy beaches. I was reading an article in the Royal Gazette, Bermuda's only daily newspaper, and was shocked to know that the pink sands of the Bermuda beaches may not remain pink in future.
Here is why. The pink color of the beaches that you see in Bermuda are actually created by tiny organisms that are unique to Bermuda waters. They actually create some small shells or skeletons on the sea floor that are pinkish in color. Those pink shells during the high tides get carried on to the beaches and generate pink hue under the sun, and the sand looks marvelous and pink in color.
Bermuda Pink Sands
These shells are vital for these tiny organisms to protect themselves against predators in the ocean. They hide behind them. It seems, gradually over a period of time, they may not be able to create these shells any longer.
And can you believe it, the culprits are none other than the human beings. The ocean water is becoming more and more acidic. That's because, there is huge carbon emission in the atmosphere from vehicles and many other ways we burn fuel every day. The ocean water absorbs these carbons from the atmosphere. It then generates carbonic acid and the sea water, which is supposed to be a little alkaline in nature, starts becoming acidic.
This ocean acidification is a real threat to the survival of the tiny organisms that create the pink shells. Due to the chemical composition of the shells (which essentially has Calcium Carbonates), it would be much harder for these small organisms to create those shells from acidic water. And therefore these organisms might become lesser and lesser in number and may finally even perish.
However, this ocean becoming acidic is not only a problem with Bermuda. This is a global problem. It has been proven that Ocean water has become 30 percent more acidic since the industrial evolution.
Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) is now doing an in-depth research to understand the level of threats that may come to these organisms with the sea water becoming more acidic with time and whether Bermuda will be able to retain its proud possession of pink sands in the future.
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Bermuda Beaches to know about all the beautiful pink beaches of Bermuda.
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Bermuda News for latest updates on what's happening in the island.
