The colored material continues from the surface into pores and small structural cavities.
The polymer is embedded in the dead coral skeleton, not merely touching its exterior.
Bright specks appear against pale coral rubble.
The material matches polyethylene and polypropylene.
Polymer extends into pores and structural cavities.
Heat likely melted the plastic before it infiltrated the rubble.
Evidence boundary: the instruments establish composition and embedding. They do not identify the discarded objects that supplied the polymers or reconstruct every specimen’s exact history.