Toxic Foam Covered One Of India’s Most Famous Beaches

The beach in India is knee-deep foam, which, experts warn, is toxic. But this danger did not prevent tourists from frolic in the whipped white foam.

The coast, Marina Beach in Chennai, is India’s largest city beach and receives tens of thousands of visitors daily.

Foam is also a regular visitor to the beach, appearing every year when monsoon rains wash away pollution in the sea.

The foam is probably the result of a mixture of detergent residues and other wastes whipped into the foam by wind and waves.

Only 40% of Chennai’s wastewater is treated, said Pravakar Mishra, a scientist at the National Center for Coastal Research in Chennai. The remaining sewage from a city with a population of more than 7 million people is washed directly into the sea.