Bermuda Pink

by admin on Friday, April 9th, 2010 | Comments Off

Bermuda Pink

What causes Bermuda pink sand?

causes

Bermuda has some magnificent large and small beaches. Some great ones are public, meaning that anyone can enjoy them. But some are private, not for general public, only to their guests - re-assuring to those who stay at properties with private beaches. Beach sand is not volcanic but from finely pulverized remains of calcium carbonate shells and skeletons of invertebrates such as corals, clams, forams and other shells. Beaches begin with tiny single-celled animals, Foraminifera, in particular, homotrema rubrum - or forams - dark red skeletal animals that grow profusely on the underside of Bermuda's coral reefs. When the red forms die, the skeletons plummet to the ocean floor. Wave action erodes the forams. They become mixed with other debris on the seabed such as the white shells of clams, snails and sea urchins.

It is at that time that Bermuda's white sand takes on its characteristic pink hue. While coral reefs are common elsewhere, Bermuda is one of the northernmost areas in the Western Hemisphere. (But by no means the northernmost place in the world for coral reefs, as is commonly but mistakenly claimed). There are cold-water and other coral reefs on the coastlines of Spain and Portugal throughout the northeast Atlantic, stretching north in the Irish sea, then due north, northwest and northeast all the way up to Norway). Cold-water corals form a rich habitat for deep-water species hunted by fishing trawlers mostly from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, France and Norway. Coral reefs alone cover an area twice the length of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. In the islands of the Bahamas, Pink Sands Beach on Harbour Island in the Bahamas was, on May 24, 2008 declared by Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper to be the most beautiful beach in the world.

There, and to some extent in Bermuda too, the pink sands turn salmon-colored in the setting sun. In at least five places in north west Scotland, the sand is also pink, a very deep pink, but not because of the warm water corals. Scottish beaches mostly have deep blue, much colder waters but there are several with turquoise waters). In Bermuda, see the contrast of pink sand, turquoise water between the shoreline, outlying reefs, and dark blue of the ocean beyond the reefs or land. The sand in Bermuda is exceptionally fine. Beaches in Bermuda are often favored for weddings. Often, religious ministers in Bermuda shorts and knee length socks will preside. Most beaches are on the South Shore, but a few are on the North Shore. Watch out for the rip tide and rip currents on the South Shore beaches! They are formed by water seeking its own level. More water is pushed up on the beach as the frequency of the waves breaking on the beach increases.

As this water accumulates, it must return to the sea to find its own level, thus causing a drag outwards. The larger the surf, the more intense the rip currents. They pull out to sea, not down beneath the surface. Examples of fine North Shore beaches include Deep Bay, Shelly Bay and Tobacco Bay. At low tide, when the reef formations are clearly visible and the sea is calm, South Shore potboiler formations can be explored. Some contain deep natural pools for visitors to swim or wade out to and enjoy. Visitors used to riding surf boards on high rolling waves, as in California, Hawaii, Australia and elsewhere, should note that only when the wind is blowing heavily from the south do Bermuda's South Shore beaches get any decent surf. Many people assume, wrongly, that Bermuda must have good surfing beaches. Beaches are closed when the wind blows too heavily from the south. There very little good surfing usually, because of the reefs' calming influence on the waves. When gales and hurricanes occur, of the type that bring surfing conditions, surfing is dangerous. Rip tides are bad then, too.

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