Photo: Pacifica’s Nurdle Beach

Ian Butler took this photo at Nurdle Beach, the new nickname for Pacifica’s northernmost beach.  Nurdles are small particles that Styrofoam (polystyrene) is made of. According to Butler, writing for the Riptide:

The entire beach was covered in a white layer of the particles, which probably numbered in the millions. Recent rains washed them from Pacifica and Daly City streets into the storm drains, down the "Secret Waterfall" and into the ocean. They were then washed up onto the beach during high tide. They will all wash away in a day or two and head out to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, poisoning birds, fish, turtles, and sea mammals all the way.