A survey for nurdles (industrial plastic pellets) on a beach or shoreline is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to monitor microplastics pollution. 

_Lead image: nurdles, by [hockadilly](https://www.flickr.com/photos/99646216@N00/2410117006), [CC BY SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)_

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### Purpose of a nurdle survey

+ Identify and count nurdles over a period of time at a particular location.
+ Gain awareness of local nurdle pollution, report counts to government agencies, report counts to organizations mapping community-sourced data on nurdle pollution.
+ Using mapped data, compare nurdle pollution in different regions and potentially correlate high concentrations of nurdles to an industrial source. 

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### Groups organizing nurdle surveys

+ [Nurdle Patrol](https://nurdlepatrol.org/Forms/Home/index.php) on the US Gulf Coast published methods for a 10-minute nurdle survey (see details below), provides an online reporting form for community members to submit data, and has a map showing submitted nurdle counts. 
+ [Great Nurdle Hunt](https://www.nurdlehunt.org.uk/) organized out of the UK outlines a variable-time nurdle survey, plus tips, suggested equipment, a nurdle ID sheet, and data collection form. They also have a map showing nurdle counts worldwide.

_If you know of other groups organizing nurdle surveys, please [add them to the list](https://publiclab.org/wiki/edit/nurdle-survey)!_
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### Nurdle survey activities

Posts written by Public Lab community members and tagged with `nurdle-survey` will appear here. [Write a note about your own research or story here](https://publiclab.org/post?tags=nurdle-survey,microplastics)!

[activities:nurdle-survey]