Are you standing on parrotfish poop?
If you are, I'm jealous
If you’re lucky enough to be standing on a white sand beach, there’s a good chance you are indeed standing on parrotfish excrement. I recently listened to a pair of Stuff to Blow Your Mind episodes on parrotfish. When I saw them in my feed, my first thought was ‘how can you have two episodes on a fish’ … but they had me at the poo.
Parrotfish feed on coral or on the algae on the coral by scraping it off with their beaks (yes, I use beaks intentionally … they’re parrotfish after all). After they digest the edible bits, the rest passes through them and get returned to the environment in clouds of sand.
From the University of Hawai’i at Manoa:
Scientists estimate that up to 70% of the sand on white sandy beaches in the Caribbean and Hawai‘i has been excreted by parrotfish.
70 percent?!
If that weren’t fantastic enough, parrotfish have a fascinating lifecycle. Most species are sequential hermaphrodites — they start as females then transition to males as the get larger (if they survive long enough). They can look so different that the terminal phases were often first described as separate species. Read all about it.
Oh, two more words about parrotfish: mucus cocoon. I know some people have issues with the m-word, so I won’t go into details.
One of the things I love about writing sci-fi and fantasy is creating new creatures to fill my universe. One of my favourites is an amorous plant in A Lone Star on the Lady Liberty. But, honestly, the life on Earth has got me beat.
Writing update
I continue to work on the next book in The Lyra Cycle. I’ll admit it was hard to get back into the swing of thigs — I had some life stuff last year that discombobulated me — but I think I’m finally hitting my stride. I’ve discovered the local university library is a great place to focus.
Books for your TBR shelf
I think I’ve mentioned I’ve had a somewhat disappointed year for books. I’ve DNF’d a few, and others were a struggle. However, I’m currently reading one I had high hopes for. It’s a biography of Idina Sackville, who divorced her husband, abandoned her children, and took off to what would become Kenya, just after WW1. She had a succession of husbands and lovers … and that’s all I know about her so far.
I love stories of interesting people. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
But if you’re looking for fiction, my Armchair Alien co-conspirator is sharing Lunar Escape, a book in her Settler Chronicles universe.
Happy reading!
—CR