At the end of February I wrote about how some of the famed swimming pigs in the Bahamas being found dead. A couple of days later I wrote that it was reported that some of the pigs were given alcohol.

It’s been a bit of a mystery pertaining to one of the island’s biggest attractions.

It turns out that alcohol wasn’t the cause of death.

The “Humane Society inspector Ventoi Bethune told National Geographic that the dead swine had likely ingested sand“.  Sadly tourists are still getting the blame placed their way.

Vets involved in the investigation found large amounts of sand in the pig’s stomachs.

One theory is that this happened due to tourists tossing small amount of food on the beach. The pigs used to forage for food on the island and only visit the beach for a occasional snack. With an increase in visitors the pigs are turning to humans more and more. Inspector Bethune said “Now [the pigs] stay on the beach and aren’t living in the forest“.

Another factor which could’ve led to the swimming pigs deaths is the fact that the Bahamas is having a very dry January which led to some water sources drying up, giving the pigs little fresh water to drink on their island.

Whether or not it was alcohol, food or sand, it does appear that tourists/tourism have played a role in the death of some of the popular Bahamas swimming pigs.

Find out more from National Geographic here.