Plastic Pollution: The Ocean’s Return Gift
Our oceans face a growing crisis as tiny pieces of plastic, known as microplastics, clog marine ecosystems. Recently, nature has revealed a surprising way of fighting back. Meadows of seagrass, thriving beneath the waves, have started to bundle up these microplastics and eject them onto shorelines. These bundles, known as “Neptune balls”, now appear on beaches across the globe.
What Are Neptune Balls?
Neptune balls are fibrous, ball-shaped bundles formed by seagrass meadows. As seagrass captures floating plastic fragments, it naturally weaves them together with plant fibers. Over time, these bundles grow and eventually get washed ashore, effectively removing some plastics from the sea. This process demonstrates how marine plants help clean up our mess—but it also highlights the scale of our plastic pollution problem.
The appearance of plastic-filled Neptune balls on beaches serves as a warning. The ocean is not only a victim of pollution but also finds ways to send our trash back to us. Next time you walk along the shore and spot these odd balls, remember: they are evidence of both nature’s resilience and humanity’s urgent need to reduce plastic waste.
Sources:
BBC: Why plastic-filled ‘Neptune balls’ are washing up on beaches
