The shores of Pattinampakkam beach have been witnessing white foam, rolling in along with the waves, for the past two days.
“During evenings, it have been especially heavy. On Thursday the foam was thicker,” said Lakshmanan, a fisherman.
During the monsoon, after heavy rain, when the winds are swift and swirly, ocean foam is a common phenomenon. Experts say detergent residues in rivers and canals mix with the saline water and get whipped up due to the action of the winds to form foam.
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Doctors say playing in it could cause skin irritation and other issues. Ingestion could cause digestive ailments. The National Centre for Coastal Research in Chennai had lifted samples of the foam recently. “We found high content of phosphate that time,” said Pravakar Mishra, a scientist.