Dorset marine wildlife threatened by millions of plastic pellets

09/09/2006 00:00:00 December 2007. Volunteers for Dorset Wildlife Trust’s beach clean at Kimmeridge last Sunday were horrified to find a white beach. On closer inspection this turned out not to be snow or Caribbean sand, but millions of tiny plastic pellets called nurdles. Too small to pick up and too numerous to count, these pellets will remain on the beach with potentially lethal consequences. They were almost certainly lost from the Napoli, grounded in Lyme Bay last January. Nurdles are the basic material from which plastic products are made. Transported in massive containers to factories, they are turned into CDs, drainpipes, food containers and virtually anything plastic. They often end up in the sea, washed down factory drains or, as in this case, lost from container ships. As they float on the surface of all the world’s oceans they attract toxins from the water and are swept onto beaches with each tide.

Killer Fish Eggs
Unfortunately nurdles are killers. Looking like millions of fish eggs they are eagerly swallowed by seabirds and other surface-feeding marine animals. With a stomach full of toxic plastic the birds feel full and starve to death. DWT’s Marine Warden Julie Hatcher commented:

‘We always have huge numbers of nurdles here but what we saw on Sunday was beyond belief. The white pellets, which look just like fish eggs, were piled up in drifts like snow, but mixed in with seaweed making them impossible to collect.’
Litter from the Napoli
Sadly, Litter from the Napoli has been the main feature in the Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve this year, starting with oiled seabirds, followed by mountains of shampoo bottles, medical waste, Kinder egg toys and car parts. Although the amount of litter collected at Kimmeridge on Sunday was less than normal for this time of year, most of it could be traced back to the Napoli. 194 Kilograms of litter was removed but the sense of satisfaction normally felt by the volunteers was missing as far more plastic, in the form of nurdles, had to be left on the beach.

Help Clean up Kimmeridge
The next Dorset Wildlife Trust beach clean will be held on 13th January at Worbarrow Bay. If you would like to get involved with helping marine wildlife in this way contact Julie Hatcher, the reserve warden, for more information on 01929 481044 or email kimmeridge@dorsetwildlife.co.uk