03.09.08
Parrotfish poop
Check out the Wikipedia page for parrotfish. It will tell you that the parrotfish gets its name from its “parrot-like” beak. It will also tell you that the parrotfish changes its gender during its lifetime. It will not, however, tell you about the wonderful world of parrotfish poop. Wikipedia isn’t exactly known for being the world’s best resource on, well, anything, but poop is the most interesting thing the parrotfish has going for it. A more thorough Googling will tell you that a large portion of the world’s sand is, in fact, parrotfish poop. Seriously. That castle you just made? Poop. Those buckets of sand you just poured over your friend? Poop. That thing you just swallowed underwater that’s making you gag a little? Sand? No, poop.
Diana came to drop-in tutoring the other day with a fun fact that her teacher had shared. This was then relayed to everyone else over lunch. We were told that parrotfish grind up pieces of coral skeleton, poop it out, and this becomes sand. And not just a little bit of sand. The majority of the sand in the Caribbean is poop. “That is so totally not true,” we said. “Everyone would know if sand was poop. That is just too much poop.” Well, we were wrong. Sand is most definitely poop. Reefnews.com lists the “cool facts” about the parrotfish as it being a “colorful, common fish” and having a “powerful beak for algae.” Wrong. Those are not cool facts. A parrotfish can produce up to one ton of poop/sand a year. That is a cool fact. I have spent the past week asking everyone I know if they are aware that they are walking through poop every time they go to the beach. No one knew. Well, the secret’s out. Sand is poop. Tell everyone.
