News
Twenty Thousand Nurdles Hunted Down in September
Wednesday, 02 Oct, 2024
September wrapped up with an incredible achievement: over twenty thousand nurdles collected and over 400kg of trash removed from coastlines across Australia!
Our Marine Debris crews across the country dedicated this month to supporting Fidra - a UK-based organisation, by sieving the sand for pre-production plastic pellets - working together to combat pellet pollution globally.
Nurdles are pre-production plastic pellets, approximately the size of a lentil. Billions of nurdles are used each year to manufacture plastic products. However, before they can be transformed into useful items, many escape into the environment and the ocean, posing significant threats to marine wildlife.
Nurdles are the second-largest source of primary microplastic pollution globally, with an estimated 445,970 tonnes entering the environment each year.
Nurdles spill into the environment wherever they are handled or transported along the global plastic supply chain. Spill events at sea are increasing, posing huge risks to marine life.
Due to their lightweight, nurdles can flow across surfaces and are often bright in colour, which can cause marine mammals to mistake them for fish eggs or food. Hundreds of marine species have been impacted by nurdle pollution.
Plastic pellet pollution is preventable. That’s why organisations around the world, including Sea Shepherd Australia's Marine Debris Campaign, host nurdle hunts to remove and record data on these spills.
This information is critical for campaigning globally for better international agreements regarding transportation and ensuring that nurdle pollution is included in the final negotiations for the Global Plastic Treaty at UN INC5.
Our Findings this September
Our teams hosted nurdle hunts and clean-ups in 10 different locations, four of which reported positive findings of nurdles.
The Melbourne team hit the hot spot at Mordialloc Beach, successfully removing over 19,000 plastic pellets. In Brisbane, a new location for nurdle pollution was discovered at Nudgee Beach, where the team recorded one nurdle that had escaped into the marine environment. The Sydney team hit the sand sieving at Maroubra Beach and recorded 50 tiny pre-production plastic pellets. It is a new location for our campaign to record nurdle pollution in Australia.
On the remote atoll of Cocos Keeling Islands, our team sieved the sand at Rumah Baru Jetty with the local community, recording 407 nurdles over a 50m area.
All findings were submitted to our National Sea Shepherd Database and to the Global Great Nurdle Hunt movement to help stem the tide of these toxic plastic pellets.
Thank you to everyone who joined our volunteer teams, together, we can make a positive impact for the ocean!
Join us for a beach clean-up event in your area this October!