Pearls on the Shore

Dozens of small polystyrene beads litter famous Siesta Key Beach in Florida, endangering local wildlife and highlighting the severity of plastic waste in our ocean.

The polystyrene beads originate from consumers local and foreign. Polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam, is a widely used insulator for beach coolers, temperature controlled packaging for time sensitive shipments, a medium for fertilizer in potting soils, and more.

Ocean wildlife such as gulls, turtles, and fish often mistake the particles as food, filling their stomachs with the plastic waste. As a large part of our food supply, this means we are in turn consuming the particles as by-waste of the ocean fish we consume.