On an early spring afternoon, Tregantle Beach is bathed in a dazzling light reminiscent of a painting by British landscape artist JMW Turner as sea, sky and sun merge.
On an early spring afternoon, Tregantle Beach is bathed in a dazzling light reminiscent of a painting by British landscape artist JMW Turner as sea, sky and sun merge.
«It’s beautiful, right? But look at your feet,» says Rob Arnold, 65, an environmental activist and artist, crouching down to pick tiny plastic balls, or «nurdles», sometimes nicknamed «mermaids’ tears», out of the Cornwall sand.
The size of a lentil, the tiny bits of plastic are used by industry to manufacture plastic products.
But when spilt at industrial facilities, they can be swept into drains and then out into the sea.
Some 11.5 trillion nurdles end up in the ocean each year, according to UK charity Fauna & Flora International.
Once released into the natural environment, the nurdles circulate on ocean currents and often wash up on beaches and other shores.
Due to their resemblance to fish eggs, birds and other sea life will eat the tiny pellets—which also absorb toxic pollutants—adversely affecting the entire food chain, Arnold says.
He is among about 10 people taking part in a clean-up on the beach in England’s southwestern Cornwall region, using a device he invented made from a plastic basin, a large grid and a set of tubes.
