NURDLES IN OUR RIVER – CLICK THIS LINK TO READ ABOUT IT
Here is a summary of the article – thanks to Chat GPT for helping me.
NURDLES are small plastic pellets that are used to make many of the plastic things we use every day, like bottles and car parts. Unfortunately, nurdles often end up in our oceans and rivers, and they can be very harmful to the animals that live there.
Some local people are organizing beach cleanups in Perth, Australia, to try and remove as many nurdles as possible from Bathers Beach and Minim Cove. They want to see how many nurdles are there, and what kind of danger they might pose to the environment.
Nurdles are a big problem all over the world. In fact, in 2022, 90% of global beach cleanups found nurdles. In Australia, there are over 2,400 sites that have been affected by nurdle spills.
Nurdles are dangerous because they can absorb toxic chemicals and look like food to animals. They often end up in their stomachs. Around 230,000 tons of nurdles end up in our oceans every year, which is just as bad as a big oil spill.
Even though nurdles are so harmful, they’re not considered dangerous by the International Maritime Organization’s dangerous goods code, which is a problem. Spills happen all the time, and lots of nurdles end up in the ocean where they don’t belong.
Sea Shepherd Australia is organizing some beach cleanups to remove as many nurdles as possible, and they’re encouraging everyone to be mindful of how much plastic they use and to properly dispose of it.
So if you’re in Perth, Australia, and you want to help out, there are some upcoming beach cleanups you can join. On March 12th, there’s a cleanup at Bathers Beach, and on March 26th, there’s one at Minim Cove. And from October 14th-17th, there’s a bigger beach cleanup happening all over Western Australia.
We all have a responsibility to take care of our planet and the animals that call it home.
A SUMMARY OF THE DATA IN THE ARTICLE:
- 90% of global beach cleanups in 2022 found nurdles.
- The Australian Marine Debris Database lists over 2400 sites affected by nurdle spills.
- In 2022, over 300,000 nurdles drifted up to Minim Cove alone.
- Around 230,000 tons of nurdles end up in oceans each year, which is equivalent to well-documented global oil spills.
- In 2019, 343 containers of pellets spilled into the North Sea.
- In 2020, a broken container on the cargo ship MV Trans Carrier lost 10 tonnes of pellets, which polluted the coasts of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
- A second spill in 2020 occurred in South Africa that affected up to 2000 km of coastline, and about 37 tonnes of nurdles are still unaccounted for.
- In May 2021, the container ship X-Press Pearl caught fire and sank in the Indian Ocean, and the most harm from the accident came from the spillage of 87 containers full of nurdles. The death count was 450 sea turtles, 45 dolphins, and 8 whales washed ashore with nurdles in their bodies.