Simonsen said the discovery of the nurdles had made her “really sad” considering the “pristine” nature of the Wadden Sea.
Simonsen then said she drove along the coast of several nearby islands which are roughly on the same latitude as Newcastle.
She said there were nurdles “all over” where the tide had washed up.
Simonsen said she had collected nurdles from 10 different spots along the Danish coast and Sylt in Germany.
Simonsen, whose firm aims to detect microplastic pollution from drone images, then passed on some of her samples to the Danish Environment Protection Agency.
The agency, which tested the pellets alongside Aarhus University, said another factor which suggested the Danish nurdles were the same as those spilled in the River Tyne was the fact there were no other recorded spills in the area that could explain their presence.
Nurdles from the spill have washed up along the coast of north-east England including Teesside and Durham.
As of September, about 28% of the nurdles are believed to have been recovered.
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