When you think about a trip to the beach, do you picture an idyllic island somewhere far away or a city park a few feet away from a busy commercial or residential district? The coastal urban environment is an important place for people to enjoy a little bit of nature, and equally valuable for the animals and plants that make it their home. However, with people comes trash, and coastal areas close to large population centers can face a heavy burden of marine debris. The NOAA Marine Debris Program works with partners across the nation to prevent and remove marine debris in urban areas.

Every month our Emergency Response Division provides scientific expertise and services to the U.S. Coast Guard on everything from running oil spill trajectories to model where the spill may spread, to possible effects on wildlife and fisheries and estimates on how long the oil may stay in the environment. This month OR&R responded to 15 incidents in June, including oil discharges, grounded vessels, and other pollution-related incidents.

On May 20, 2021, the container ship X-Press Pearl caught fire and after 12 days sank off the coast of Sri Lanka.  All of the containers were lost or damaged.  The sinking has raised lots of concerns over the ship’s fuel and the hazardous materials on board, as well as low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pellets.  These pellets, also known as pre-production plastic pellets, are the raw material for manufacturing plastic bottles and other containers.  Some of the pre-production plastic pellets containers ruptured and coated nearby beaches with tiny pellets.

Every month our Emergency Response Division provides scientific expertise and services to the U.S. Coast Guard on everything from running oil spill trajectories to model where the spill may spread, to possible effects on wildlife and fisheries and estimates on how long the oil may stay in the environment. This month OR&R responded to 13 incidents in May, including oil discharges, grounded vessels, and other pollution-related incidents.