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.But when spilt at industrial facilities, they can be swept into drains and then out into the sea.
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 then uses the collected nurdles and other microplastics -- tiny bits of plastic that have broken off larger pieces -- in artworks.Jed Louis, 58, wearing a khaki hoodie bearing the name of the local beach clean-up association, says several factors add to the beach's vulnerability.
Some of the nurdles go to Arnold for his artistic creations while others are used to raise awareness in schools.After three hours, the volunteers have cleaned just a few square metres of the beach.
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