Although not toxic, nurdles present a deadly risk to wildlife if ingested.
Small pellets of plastic are washing up on the east coast of England following the fiery collision of two ships in the North Sea last week.
The crash between an oil tanker and cargo ship on 10 March initially raised concerns for local wildlife, as the US tanker, Stena Immaculate, leaked some of the jet fuel it had been carrying into the water.
Portuguese-flagged cargo ship Solong was initially feared to have been transporting a hazardous chemical, adding to a toxic cocktail in the ocean, but the owner clarified this was not the case.
The incident is posing a different threat to wildlife, however, according to an update from the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) on 17 March.
“Yesterday (16 March) the RNLI [UK lifeboat service] advised the MCA of a sighting in waters just off the Wash of a sheen that we now know to be plastic nurdles,” says Chief Coastguard Paddy O’Callaghan.
“This was confirmed by aerial surveillance flights and other assets have subsequently been deployed. Some nurdles have now also been identified on the shore.”
A retrieval operation to remove the nurdles has started today, he added.
What are plastic nurdles?
Nurdles are the tiny building blocks of the plastic industry. The small pellets of plastic – measuring between 1-5mm in size – are melted down and reformed to make the many items in our lives, from bottles to computers.
These microplastics are often shipped across the world in large containers but don’t tend to come to our attention unless something has gone seriously wrong.
The largest recorded nurdle spill at sea occurred in 2021 when the X-Press pearl shipwreck saw 1,680 tonnes of nurdles spilt into the ocean and onto the shores of Sri Lanka.
In Europe, coastal communities in northern Spain faced a “white tide” of pellets last January after a ship lost six containers overboard off the coast of Portugal in December 2023.
Through disasters and everyday losses, an estimated 11.5 trillion nurdles end up in the ocean every year.
It appears that the Stena Solong crash has added to that pollution. According to HM Coastguard, it is likely that the nurdles entered the water at the point of collision.
Fish and seabirds easily mistake floating nurdles for fish eggs and other food, NGO Flora & Fauna explains. When eaten, plastic gives the feeling of being full, which eventually leads to starvation and death for many species.
Nurdles are also magnets for toxic pollutants, absorbing chemicals from the surrounding water. That’s problematic for humans too, since these pollutants can build up in the fatty tissues of fish we eat.
How environmentally damaging is the North Sea ship crash?
Environmental groups were quick to voice their alarm in the wake of the North Sea crash last Monday.
The incident – which occurred when Solong struck the anchored oil tanker in waters off Hull – took place near marine protected areas for harbour porpoises and precious seafloor habitats. Close by lie Bempton Cliffs, home to England’s largest gannet colony and internationally important populations of seabirds.
But thankfully, as salvage operations continue, HM Coastguard reports that pollution is limited.
“Regular aerial surveillance flights continue to monitor the vessels and confirm that there continues to be no cause for concern from pollution from either the STENA IMMACULATE or from the SOLONG,” O’Callaghan said in a previous update on Friday afternoon.
“We’re not quite out of the danger zone yet, but it’s starting to look like an environmental disaster may have been narrowly averted,” Dr Paul Johnston from the Greenpeace Research Laboratories commented on Wednesday.
“When a container ship the length of a football pitch rams into a tanker carrying thousands of tonnes of jet fuel at 16 knots close to sensitive nature sites, the potential for serious harm is huge.”
As investigations get underway, lessons must be learned, he added.
“This incident is a stark reminder of the inherent risks associated with millions of tonnes of oil and oil products floating in tankers on our oceans each and every day.”
