If you are in the Knysna, Hermanus or Milnerton area, along the beach front this month and come across small pieces of plastic, either floating around or washed up on the shore, make sure you remove them if you can. Those tiny pellets are part of the great nurdle disaster caused in Durban earlier this year. By definition a nurdle is a very small pellet of plastic which serves as raw material in the manufacture of plastic products.
In October this year, a container of nurdles fell off a ship during a major storm in Kwa-Zulu-Natal. The nurdles washed up on the beaches and infested beaches from Richards Bay on the North Coast right through to the South Coast.
Nurdles are extremely harmful to animals that feed on them. They are also very toxic and can cause digestive blockages, starvation and even lead to death. Marine life are mostly affected by the plastic infestation.
How do you collect nurdles? All you have to do is scrape them off the sand and rinse in a bucket of water. Afterwards, place them on a sealed bag and label it with the date and location, then contact the number below for them to follow up.
Here’s a infographic from the Two Oceans Aquarium on relevant information that you need if you come across nurdles.
You can also contact the South African Shark Conservation on 028 312 3029 and they will collect it.
Graphic and picture: Two Oceans Aquarium