And millions of those grains wash up on us every time. Ingrid Meys: “I have seen them myself near Middelkerke. I have heard people who have found them on the Oosteroever in Ostend, in Zeebrugge, in Blankenberge. They are scattered everywhere at the moment.”
The granules then remain on the beach and in the environment, because cleaning up is impossible. Some birds see the balls as food and then succumb when too many end up in the stomach. Not all bird species can regurgitate them.