What if your stroll along the beach could help protect the Gulf of Mexico? Every piece of debris you spot, every photo you take, and every note you record contributes to a growing body of data that helps scientists tackle plastic pollution in our oceans.

 For decades, beachcombers have acted as citizen scientists, documenting shipping container spills and collecting samples that marine biologists and oceanographers use to track long-term environmental trends. Think of the shoreline as a report card for the health of the surrounding waters. 

 So how does Galveston grade out? By reporting debris, logging locations, and participating in organized beach surveys, locals and visitors alike are helping solve problems that ripple far beyond our coast. 

 

 NURDLE PATROL 

 One of the ongoing studies focuses on a type of microplastic known as nurdles - tiny, spherical plastic pellets roughly 1/8 inch in diameter. These pellets serve as the raw material for countless plastic products. 

 For example, it takes approximately 600 nurdles to make a single plastic water bottle, with manufacturers measuring them by weight to produce specific items. 

 But when things go wrong at sea - such as a shipping container filled with bags of nurdles spilling overboard - the impact is enormous. Billions of pellets drift with the currents, dispersing across oceans. 

 Some are mistaken for food by marine life, while others wash ashore on beaches worldwide, including here in Galveston. 

 How do we know how many nurdles never make it to the factory floor? By counting the ones that turn up where they shouldn’t - on beaches around the world. That’s where volunteers come in. 

 While a handful of people can’t track them all, thousands of beachcombers can. Through Nurdle Patrol, everyday citizens log and report nurdle sightings, helping scientists monitor where these microplastics are washing ashore. Galveston volunteers are especially active, covering the island’s full 32-mile coastline. 

 The method is simple: once a nurdle is spotted, the patroller starts a 10-minute timer and surveys the area, collecting pellets into labeled vials. The total count, along with its GPS location, is submitted to NurdlePatrol.org. Patrollers can log one interval or repeat the process to build a fuller snapshot of local pollution. 

 It’s grassroots science with global impact - connecting coastal communities like Galveston to a worldwide effort to understand and reduce plastic pollution. 

 Want to help protect our oceans? Visit NurdlePatrol.org to learn how you can become a Nurdle Patroller. You can request a free kit for yourself or your organization, which includes collection vials, patrol instructions, and Nurdle Patrol T-shirts. 

 The site also features interactive maps showing where surveys have been conducted and offers resources for teaching others how to get involved. 

 Nurdles pose a serious threat to marine life. These tiny plastic pellets are often mistaken for food, leading to illness or death in fish, birds, and other wildlife. 

 Even worse, the raw plastic can leach harmful chemicals into the water - polluting ecosystems and disrupting the food chain. Plastic was never meant to be ingested, and every nurdle removed makes a difference. 

 

 SEA PIGS 

 The first time I heard about sea pigs was at the Sea Bean Symposium in Cocoa Beach, Florida, back in 2015. But references to these quirky finds date back more than two decades. 

 Sea pigs are plastic piggy banks that have become one of the Gulf Coast’s most talked-about beachcombing discoveries of the 2025 summer season. After years of only sporadic sightings, their sudden resurgence along Texas beaches - from Galveston to Padre Island - has sparked curiosity among citizen scientists and beachcombers alike. 

 It took me 15 years to find my first one in 2024. Then, in May 2025, I found seven in just two days on Galveston Island. When I posted about them on beachcombing social media groups, I quickly learned I wasn’t alone - others had been spotting these colorful piggy banks all along the Texas coast. 

 What caused this sudden drift of sea pigs to wash up on our beaches? After examining my own finds and comparing them with photos collected by other beachcombers this summer, I’ve concluded that these are unused piggy banks. 

 Many still have intact coin slots, never punched out to hold coins - suggesting they weren’t discarded after use, but rather lost before reaching consumers. 

 Notably, none of the sea pigs bear identifying stamps or manufacturer markings, which points to a likely origin outside the United States. It’s possible a shipment of new piggy banks was lost or discarded in transit, eventually entering the ocean and drifting ashore. 

 Another telling detail is their condition: the once-glossy plastic is now dulled, pitted, and etched - evidence of prolonged exposure to sun and saltwater. 

 One specimen I found even shows distinct sea turtle bite marks on its foot. These diamond-shaped impressions are commonly seen in softer plastics and are a sobering reminder of the impact marine debris has on wildlife. 

 So why did these sea pigs begin washing ashore in “drifts” this summer? One possible clue lies in the unusually heavy influx of sargassum that blanketed Galveston’s beaches between May and July. Every sea pig I found was nestled in fresh sargassum, suggesting a connection between the floating seaweed and the arrival of these plastic piggy banks. 

 Sargassum mats, often originating from the Sargasso Sea, are known to trap and transport marine debris including plastics that may have been adrift for years. 

 Alongside the sea pigs, I also found an uptick in plastic bottles with similar shapes and buoyancy. Items of comparable size and density tend to travel together on ocean currents, making their simultaneous arrival more than coincidence. 

 In a way, the sea pigs have become an unexpected mascot for our plastic problem. Their cheerful shape belies a sobering truth: our “piggish” addiction to plastic is fueling the accumulation of debris in our oceans. 

 Since plastic doesn’t decompose, every molecule ever manufactured still exists - and much of it is now floating in marine ecosystems. 

 If you head out to the beach and spot a sea pig, report your find and collect any plastic you see. It’s a second chance to remove harmful debris before it reaches marine life and a small step toward restoring the health of our Gulf.