This is actually the ground! And it's peeling! At first when I saw it, I was like 'What is that?' I saw it while I was taking random photos of the rocks at the beach, so when I took the photo, I was completely astounded! I then inspected it closely and realised that it was the ground, just that it had a coat like bark that was peeling. I found it quite fascinating. Also, the texture of the bark is incredible! I mean, look at that detail... those lines are so close and there's so much of them it looks like long strands of hair. The other thought that crosses my mind is that the bark in these photos looks like a painting or something - paint with some graphite and charcoal. Who could have guessed? This little piece of ground and bark remain such a mystery to me...
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