Beach Combing Mystery

The myriad of brightly coloured rocks found on Lake Superior's cobblestone beaches keep us entertained at each campsite. Beach combing for the perfect rock has become our evening ritual. In our search, we've discovered sparkling agates, pink daisystones and, to our surprise, small white coloured plastic pellets known as nurdles. For about one hundred kilometers of coastline, we found hundreds of thousands of these noxious plastic pieces scattered across beaches along the north shore. Used in the plastic manufacturing industry, nurdles are known to wreck havoc on marine life since they are often mistaken for food. Concerned, we are left puzzled in our attempts to find out how these nurdles ended up in the water. Could it have been in a train derailment or perhaps a shipping mishap? Maybe we will never know.