GoKawiilResearchers find melted plastic fused into coral skeletons in Okinawa
A team studying beaches on Japan's Ryukyu Islands identified colorful fragments embedded in coral gravel that turned out to be plastic melted into the coral's microscopic pores. Using spectroscopy and micro-CT scans, they confirmed the plastic and coral skeleton had fused so thoroughly they could not be separated, and they named the material 'plasticoral.' The team believes beach bonfires burning discarded plastic waste near coral rubble likely caused the fusion.