nurdle

A nurdle, also called a pre-production plastic pellet or plastic resin pellet, is a pellet typically under 5mm in diameter. Nurdles are a large contributor to marine debris and can cause starvation to marine wildlife, as well as other environmental hazards.Nurdles that escape from the plastic production process into waterways or oceans have become a significant source of ocean and beach pollution, frequently finding their way into the digestive tracts of various marine creatures. Nurdles are discussed in Alan Weisman's The World Without Us (Chapter 9: Polymers are Forever). In the passage, University of Plymouth marine biologist Richard Thompson is said to be guiding a visitor along the shore of the River Plym estuary and inviting that person to identify the various debris, the hardest to identify are described by Weisman as "...a couple dozen blue and green plastic cylinders about two millimeters high."
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