Why are all the rocky islands white.

A good question, and one that deserves serious contemplation.

1. My first stab was geological. Some quartz or limestone stratum that ran roughly parallel with the coast and had been erratically weathered to expose itself periodically along the coast


2. An enthusiastic coastguard service looking to highlight potential dangers to shipping by painting all rocks above the high water mark with luminous white paint


3. My mind strayed back to my sea cliff climbing days in Cornwall, where the unsurpassable friction of the granite was occasionally compromised by an idle cormorant or shag that was not prepared to leave its nest before depositing the contents of its bowel on key hand or foot holds.


4. As I pondered in this vein my mind digressed to an energetic and objectionable fulmar petrel that disgorged its undigested stomach contents at my face as I tried to share its ledge during a tricky mantleshelf move at Bosigran


5. The dawn was slowly breaking.... If you create a state park over 400 miles of coast and forbid human interference with sea mamals and birds they are likely to take advantage by breeding prodigiously, which is what the good State Park managers had hoped would happen. It is a trait of all animals to mark their territory, and I had temporary visions of Gulls, Cormorants, Sea Eagles and colossal numbers of Pelicans each with their buckets of snowcem painting away above the high tide mark.


6. There was clearly a defining moment where a key Cormorant was too idle to get his snowcem from the stores and pooped on his patch in order to cover his tracks so to speak. This fine example was quickly followed, and explains why the demand dropped and we havent seen snowcem in the shops for over 20 years. (maybe the bottom dropped out of the market).

Anyhow there are lots of bird poo islands and they glisten beautifully in the photos.

I recall a story about Noah finding his ark in danger of capsizing from the poo from two of every animal accumulating in dangerous proportions,and ordering it to be shovelled over the side. Apparently it lay there until the floodwaters subsided and Columbus discovered it.

Who knows where the truth lies. I will try and avoid fiction lest it causes offence, given that I am posting this blog in California.... Come to think of it it might have been Captain Cooke that discovered it!