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Protectors of the pearl: Curbing marine pollution

25 Aug 2021

BY Ashera Ambawatte Throughout time, the oceans have been subjected to many different aspects of marine pollution, with destructive incidents increasing each day. Our kind – and our creations – have disrupted the once pristine bodies of water and their harmless aquatic inhabitants, leaving them helpless in a garbage-filled environment. Although this news is uncommon to most people by now, a very recent incident that took place in the Indian Ocean not only shook marine life and their homes, but shifted the pace of advocacy as a result. What exactly happened? During May, a cargo filled ship, namely the MV X-Press Pearl, was travelling through the Indian Ocean when it caught on fire near the coasts of Sri Lanka. This ship contained massive containers of toxic chemicals and 78 metric tonnes of tiny plastic pellets, which, during its destruction, poured out into the ocean, leaving an environmental disaster in its wake. Additionally, the pellets, also known as “nurdles” spread, and washed up along the coastline of Sri Lanka, affecting aquatic life as a result.  This was reported to be the largest nurdle spill that has ever occurred in the world and the first in South Asia, surpassing those that took place in Hong Kong and South Africa. This incident is rapidly creating a widespread case of marine pollution within the coasts of the Island, while introducing countless new dangers to the Indian Ocean. However, there is no doubt that this Island and its people present with great signs of resilience in times of need. The Pearl Protectors are a local volunteer based organisation striving to create a pollutant and plastic free environment through marine advocacy and volunteer based events. Their organisation conducts activities such as beach cleanups, surveys, and research programmes, while striving to create and improve new marine regulations and policies as well.  The campaign that is making a difference Their initiative “Nurdle Free Lanka” began in July, with scheduled events held each weekend and the team making sure that every necessary Covid-19 precaution was taken. They have since gathered hundreds of volunteers and partner organisations, while collecting massive amounts of pellets each time. Their volunteer base has grown to over 600 individuals, both kids and adults (and some furry friends) while collecting over 850 kg of nurdles at the end of six successful events, since the very first trial clean up, and they expected to mobilise up to 1,000 volunteers by the end of the month. The team conducts their research and surveys on a weekly basis, covering the shorelines of Sri Lanka and taking samples of sand to evaluate which beaches need the most attention due to heavy pollution. They base their research and assess further steps for future mobilisations on the case of the nurdle spill that occurred during 2012 in Hong Kong, which as their Coordinator explains, is the most suitable case study to extract information from.  The organisation intends to initially carry out the “Nurdle Free Lanka” campaign for a period of three months and to re-evaluate their future activities accordingly, as their research shows that the first three months are the most crucial owing to significant levels of pollution. They also explain that there are still up to 50-70% of plastic pellets accumulated at sea, and with the shores of the island being subjected to other types of pollution regardless of this incident, these nurdles are now washing up ashore, entangled between rubbish, seaweed, and even inside harmless aquatic animals such as fish. These pellets are currently gathering in either clusters or are spread out across the beach, some of which are deeply embedded into the sand, making it that much harder to collect. Moreover, the nurdles take a vast amount of time to decompose and now act as a detrimental and long lasting threat towards the nation’s waters.  The tools that worked wonders Collecting and filtering these tiny pellets by hand, though rewarding in the end, can be a rather tiresome and time consuming job. Therefore, the organisation created special tools that could help speed up the process. Tools such as the handheld sieves, hanging sieves, and trommels helped filter out unwanted particles of waste and sand, leaving only the pellets in the end. Afterwards, the pellets, which are collected in trash bags, are handed over to the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) for further disposal purposes. Through firsthand experience with the hand held sieve (after the use of which one can probably skip the day on which one works out one’s arms at the gym), it is evident that these devices are the best fit for the job.  Devices such as these not only require time but money to manufacture. Generous donors have been supporting the campaign through the providing of funds for the production of this equipment. These tools are also collectively stored at “nurdle portals” near the Coast Guard points of the beach, and currently the organisation has successfully placed three nurdle portals in areas such as Mount Lavinia and Dehiwala. The purpose behind these portals is to encourage anyone who visits the beach, to use the devices and clean the area at their own leisure. Additionally, they have placed informational boards that convey steps on how one can efficiently remove nurdles on their own. What are their long term goals? Pertaining to their ongoing campaign, The Pearl Protectors hope to increase the production of the sieving tools and establish more nurdle portals all along the Western coastline to start off. And from then on, they would re-evaluate as to which areas need these tools the most. Furthermore, they plan on continuing and increasing the number of volunteer mobilisations over the span of this year. The organisation states that the conducting of surveys to detect pollution will continue at the same pace as this is one of the most important sources of evaluation for their mobilisations. They state that there are millions of tiny pellets still gathered at sea, with new sightings of nurdle-infused beaches increasing each day. Therefore, the assumption of when the coastlines could be pellet free would be difficult to judge. As a whole, this destruction, though unfortunate, has resulted in a flood of advocacy and voluntary activity, not only from the local authorities but from other organisations as well. The Pearl Protectors, through the organisation of these mobilisations, increased the production of sieving tools and with the help of their volunteers within the “Nurdle Free Lanka” campaign, hope to soon rid our local beaches of these tiny plastic pellets, while raising awareness of this detrimental situation in our coastal areas and to the sea life. (The writer is an undergraduate student in the field of psychology, a poet, a creative writer, an artist, and an editor of a youth based social media awareness initiative)


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