Turtle Island Restoration Network has been researching microplastics in the Galveston area for two years, revealing exorbitant amounts of microplastic nurdles and fragments along the beach.

TIRN is working with other partners along the Gulf of Mexico to create a snapshot of the entire issue of microplastics in the environment. Locally, we are expanding our research with the help of Moody Gardens, Galveston College, Ball High School, O’Connell College Preparatory, and Oppe Elementary.

We will sample five sites around Galveston Island monthly, for two years, in an attempt to understand how these areas accumulate various types of microplastics and the impacts of differing weather conditions, watersheds, currents and population changes.

With wide-ranging community outreach, this program will educate and inspire the public to help TIRN advocate for policy change and on a personal level, make lifestyle alterations to help us fight to save our blue-green planet.

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Updates

An underwater photographer with two sea turtles

New Program Launched: Become a TIRN Member!

| 2025, Conservation, Current Action, Headquarters, News, Pledge, TIRN | No Comments
Join the Next Chapter of Impact with TIRN Be a part of something bigger, a new way to be a part of the TIRN community - your membership just got…

Meet SPAWN’s Salmonid Monitoring Intern: Isabella Rose

| 2025, Bay Area, California, Habitat Restoration, Headquarters, Internships, Salmon, TIRN, Wildlife Monitoring | No Comments
I have always had a passion for animals, nature, and particularly the ocean, which led to attending college and earning my degree in Marine Biology. During undergrad, I got the…

Daily Sea Turtle Nest Counts on the Texas Coast

| 2025, Gulf of Mexico, Nest Counts, Protect Nesting Beaches, Save the Leatherback, Sea Turtles, Texas, Turtles | No Comments
Daily nesting reports from the Texas coast and Padre Island National Seashore. Three endangered sea turtle species - the critically endangered Kemp's ridley and threatened loggerhead and green - return…