Seabirds have evolved different ways of catching and consuming their prey (fish and other marine organisms), from diving at great speeds, to skimming and dipping the surface, to using their wings to create a ‘fishing net’ effect.

However, as nurdles, and other types plastic, pollute our seas, the health of thousands of species is affected – usually by ingestion, entanglement or suffocation. More seabirds are ingesting nurdles and other microplastics by accident, whether they have mistaken plastic for prey, or they ingest plastic that their prey has already ingested – it is hard to escape! This can cause life-threatening effects such as organ damage and starvation.

JARGON BUSTER! Nurdles are small pellets of plastic (about the size of a lentil!) that are melted down to make most plastic products. Billions are used each year, yet thousands of tonnes spill into the environment. They are having devasting effects on wildlife.

Find out more about nurdles and how to get involved in the Great Nurdle Hunt by visiting their website here!

Try this game with your group to get them thinking about the difficult problems seabirds are facing.

What you will need:

• This game works best for a group size of roughly six to twelve (for larger groups you could set up more than one game)
• A clear, open space (this game is great outdoors; try it by the coast, local park, or on your own grounds)
• Something to represent fish (beanbags or hand-sized pictures of fish work well) Have a large, odd number of them e.g., fifteen. On a random few, mark them with a sticker or permanent marker.
• A container per team to represent nests (hand-held buckets, basins or plant pots work well) – if you have twelve young people, you may choose to split them into three groups and therefore need three containers.

How to play:

You can download and print the instruction sheet below.

1. Introduce your group to the topic of plastic ending up in the sea. You could ask them what kinds of problems this causes and, through discussion, introduce the issue of wildlife accidently eating plastic.
2. Before starting the game, an adult helper should hide the ‘fish’ around the area you are doing the activity (it’s useful if one person introduces the topic while the other hides the fish!). Make sure to mark boundaries with your group.
3. You are all seabirds! Split into your teams (number depending on your group size/number of containers) and choose a team name – these should be different seabirds (e.g. the gannets vs the puffins)
4. Each team has a nest (container) – one seabird from each team should be in charge of looking after the nest (hold on to it tight!). Seabirds, make sure you know which nest is yours!
5. Now everyone goes off on a fish forage – find the fish that have been hidden and bring them back to your nest. You want to get as many as you can – the chicks in your nest are very hungry!
6. The game ends once all the fish have been caught. Take a look at each nest together. Which team has the most fish in their nest?
7. Uh-oh, there’s a catch! Lots of seabirds think they are eating fish, but it’s plastic! Or they eat fish that are very bad for their health – lots of fish accidentally eat microplastics. Ask the groups to check their fish for any stickers/marks on them and count how many are in their nest. Oh no! These fish are actually full of nurdles! So you’re nest has been contaminated.
8. Ask the group if it’s safe to feed the plastic food to their chicks? What could happen to seabirds if they eat plastic? This is a big problem in our seas!