By: Thusitha Bulathgama The hidden role of microbial oceans We all know that millions of invisible organisms – bacteria, viruses, archaea, protists, and fungi – live on this planet. In our oceans, these tiny beings
By: Rojie Ekanayake As Sri Lanka’s coasts once again face the threat of plastic pellets known as nurdles, groups like Nurdle Free Lanka have stepped up to tackle this issue by hosting volunteer-run cleanups. But
By: Dilshani Maralanda Do you know that a single underwater explosion can destroy what nature took centuries to build? Dynamite fishing is an illegal fishing practice used by fishermen to catch a large yield at
By: Alina Marzook From the pattering of rain to the scuttling of crabs over a coral reef, sound travels fast and far underwater, acting as an important sensory cue for marine mammals and invertebrates. These
By: Alina Marzook On May 24th, 2025, the container ship MSC ELSA 3 capsized off Kerala’s coast. Of the 643 containers onboard, 60 carried plastic nurdles, which have since contributed to an unfolding ecological and
By: Thusitha Bulathgama Do you ever imagine farms of the future located beneath the ocean rather than on land? Underwater gardens are becoming a new frontier explored by scientists and innovators as global food systems
By: Dilshani Maralanda It was a lovely sunny morning; I was strolling along the beach when I spotted something unusual. I went closer to check what it was, and I realized that it was the
By: Thusitha Bulathgama Throughout history, Sri Lanka’s coastline has been protected from storms, pirates, and oil spills. But in recent years, a new and silent threat has emerged. Billions of tiny plastic pellets, known as
By Dilshani Maralanda
On a sunny morning, volunteers are strolling along the beach, not in search of seashells, but to collect handfuls of tiny white pellets. At first sight, they might look like little rice grains, but in reality, they are plastic nurdles. Thanks to the MSC Elsa 3 spill, which occurred on May 25, 2025, off the coast of Kerala, millions of nurdles have been washed into the waters and beaches of Sri Lanka.
By: Sara Sadoon
They may look harmless — small, round, almost like grains of rice — but nurdles are choking our oceans, threatening marine life, livelihoods, and even the food we eat. And we’re not paying nearly enough attention. Nurdles, the raw plastic pellets used to make everything from bottles to toys, are among the largest sources of microplastic pollution in the world. Their role in the plastic production chain is fundamental, but once these tiny pellets escape into the ocean, they become a slow-moving ecological disaster.
