Plastic Nurdles – Cheung Sha Lan Beach, Lantau, Hong Kong on 2 August 2012

The following photographs show Plastic Nurdles found at Cheung Sha Lan Beach, Lantau, Hong Kong on 2 August 2012:

Six full bags and two empty bags of Plastic Nurdles - this is a sandy beach and the bags are still intact 10 days after Typhoon Vicente.

The bags stacked and awaiting collection by FEHD.

One full bag and one empty bag on a footpath next to the shore (as found).

Plastic Nurdles from the broken bags, along the high tide line at Cheung Sha Lan beach.

Plastic Nurdle spill in Hong Kong - Reasons for concerns and urgency

There are three main reasons for the urgent concern regarding the spill of Plastic Nurdles in Hong Kong:

1. There are currently between 5 billion and 20 billion Plastic Nurdles either missing in the seas of Hong Kong or washed up on our beaches or shorelines.

2. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency - Spilled Nurdles and other small pieces of plastic are eaten by fish, birds and other marine life. The plastic does not break down quickly, displaces food in the animals' stomach, and can lead to starvation. See a Rainbow Runner below with plastic, including a discoloured Nurdle recovered from its stomach. The Nurdle is in the left hand corner of the picture (Courtesy: Dr Markus Eriksen - www.5gyres.org)

3. Nurdles suck up persistent organic pollutants (POPs) like DDT and PCBs from the surrounding waters, and themselves become a toxic hazard, which if consumed by wildlife, can kill the animal eating the Nurdle or the toxic hazard can be passed further up the food chain, to animals such as dolphins and porpoises and ultimately to humans. The following photograph shows the various stages of toxic absorption by Nurdles. The change in colour represents the absorption of toxins. The darker the Nurdle, the more toxic it is. These were collected at Sam Pak Wan, Lantau, Hong Kong on 3 August 2012:

Plastic Nurdles – Inshore cleanup kit

The simplest way to clean Nurdles from enclosed inshore areas is using a boat and Swimming Pool Skimmer Nets.

Cleanup boat in Nim Shue Wan on 1 August 2012 - collecting visible rubbish

100 yards away, a debris patch of Plastic Nurdles

If the net being used on the boat was replaced by Swimming Pool Skimmer Nets - see below (available from LCSD swimming pools), the cleanup of Nurdles could be undertaken.

Plastic Nurdles – Shoreline cleanup kit

The simplest way to clean Nurdles from the shoreline is using an aquarium net and polystyrene container, at high tide.

These two polystyrene containers were filled in less than one hour.

The polystyrene containers float, so it is easy to push them along on the surface of the sea, skim the surface of the sea with the net and scoop up both the Plastic Nurdles and other small plastic particles at the same time, then putting them in the polystyrene containers.

If available, a better option would be to use Swimming Pool Skimmer Nets. See below:

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Plastic Nurdles - Beach cleanup kit

The simplest way to clean Nurdles off a beach is using a dustpan and brush. Wait until the tide goes out and the sand dries out a bit, then start sweeping.

Beach cleanup kit

Nurdles in the sea – Nim Shue Wan, Lantau, Hong Kong on 31 July 2012

Loose Nurdles from broken bags from the Typhoon Vicente Nurdle spill are forming in debris patches in the sea, such as this patch which formed along the shoreline at the high tide at Nim Shue Wan, Lantau, Hong Kong on 31 July 2012. Some of these Nurdles will be re-deposited along the shoreline as the tide recedes, whilst others will be swept out to sea.

Plastic Nurdle spill – Hong Kong 23 July 2012.

Typhoon Vicente hit Hong Kong on the evening of 23 July 2012 and was categorized as a Tropical Cyclone Signal 10 (Hurricane force winds). The typhoon made landfall on 24 July 2012. It was the worst typhoon to hit Hong Kong since 1999.

During the course of the typhoon, a container ship in waters to the east of Hong Kong lost 7 x 40 foot containers. Six of these containers were each loaded with 1000 x 25 kilogram bags of plastic Nurdles. Four of these containers have since been located in Hong Kong waters. One was intact, one was half empty and two were almost completely empty.

Intact bags and loose Nurdles from some of these containers started washing up on Hong Kong beaches soon afterwards. The following photographs show loose Nurdles on Sam Pak Wan beach, Lantau and in the sea at Nim Shue Wan, Lantau. The first photograph also shows some of the recovered bags.

Nurdles on Sam Pak Wan beach, 25 July 2012

Nurdles on Sam Pak Wan beach, 30 July 2012

Nurdles in the sea at Nim Shue Wan, 29 July 2012

Nurdles in the sea at Nim Shue Wan, 30 July 2012