@thewiseinventor with his transect |
Have you heard of nurdles?
We went hunting for them on a local beach yesterday. It was our second hurdle hunting trip. It's amazing how many small pieces of plastic there are washed up on our beaches when you take a real close look
Nurdles are small plastic pellets, slightly smaller than a lentil. They are the raw material used for the manufacture of plastic products and there a billions of them in the sea.
Nurdles- photo credit Operation Clean Sweep Australia |
There has been several nurdle spillages over time, but a major hurdle spill in Durban in October 2017, saw almost 50 tonnes of them enter the ocean as two forty foot containers fell into the water during a storm.
These nurdles have been washing up on the WA shores over the past few months. Dr Harriet Paterson from UWA has been studying them, both on the beaches and in the stomachs of dead sea birds, and this weekend was the second time we have been out nurdle hunting with Harriet though the Young Naturalists Club.
The site for our hunt yesterday was at the eastern end of Mutton bird beach. Each group made a 1m x 1m transect using string and set to work hunting for plastic pieces of all kinds. Due to the toxicity, we were given spoons to pick them up with.
Two nurdles at the front of the spoon |
Measuring the density of plastics |
We enjoyed the hunt and will nurdle hunt again for sure.
The dogs had a great time too |
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