Dorset Wildlife Trust
Nurdles: the damage they are doing in our ocean
The Great British Beach Clean is an annual autumnal event to clean beaches in the UK, removing unsightly litter
Nurdles © Emma Godden
which is harmful to both people and wildlife. In Dorset, our beaches are amongst the best in the UK, so it’s important that we look after them.
Marine litter comes in all shapes and sizes. Many people think of plastic bags and bottles, but the presence of tiny beads of plastic called ‘nurdles’ in our seas are causing increasing concern. They have been found in their hundreds of thousands at Kimmeridge Bay in Dorset alone. Nurdles are small plastic pellets (3-5mm diameter) which, when melted together, are used by industry to make nearly all our plastic products. The lightweight nurdles can escape into the environment, spilling into rivers and oceans during transportation. It is thought that billions are lost in the UK each year. They pose a huge danger to wildlife, as they can be easily mistaken for fi sh eggs and swallowed by seabirds, fi sh and even crabs and lobsters. They can also soak up the toxins from their surroundings which then accumulate in the tissues of the animals that eat them.
FACTS:
• 415,000 nurdles have been collected from
Kimmeridge Bay – we even have a ‘nurdle- o-meter’
on the wall of the Fine Foundation Wild Seas Centre.
• Since 2012, over 1,300
© Sarah Hodgson
DORSET WILDLIFE TRUST
Nurdles at Kimmeridge Bay © DWT
Plastic is durable and will be around for a long time. In 2016, conservationists at Kimmeridge Bay found a lolly stick which had a fi gurine on top, which was made in 1978 – an example of just how durable and long-lasting plastic can be. So, what we do now, really does matter for future generations.
It is hoped that more people than ever will take part in the Great British Beach Clean from 20th-23rd September this year. But you don’t have to wait – Dorset Free Litter and Sea is asking everyone, at any time of the year, to do a ‘2-minute beach clean’ when they are visiting a beach in Dorset. There are 10 beach cleaning stations in Dorset, including Chesil Beach (next to the Dorset Wildlife Trust visitor Centre), Swanage and Studland which provide bags and litter pickers.
If you’d like to take part in the Great British Beach Clean this year with Dorset Wildlife Trust, visit www.
dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/events to fi nd out about our beach cleans in Dorset. Or fi nd your nearest 2 minute beach clean station at: https://www.
litterfreecoastandsea.co.uk/
volunteers have removed over 5,700kg of litter from Sally Welbourn the beaches at Kimmeridge and Worbarrow Bays.
30 Communications Offi cer, DWT To advertise, please contact 01202 657317 or email
harriet@broadstonelink.co.uk
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