Every year, millions of animals are killed by plastic pollution and contaminated water. This is what the research shows — and what we can do about it.
Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, their favorite food. When they eat plastic, it blocks their digestive system and they slowly starve to death. Over 52% of all sea turtles have eaten plastic. Pollution in the water also makes them sick and disrupts where they lay their eggs.
Dead whales are found on beaches with hundreds of pounds of plastic in their stomachs — plastic bags, rope, fishing nets, and even hard plastic containers. In 2019, a sperm whale was found in Italy with 48 pounds of plastic inside it, including a whole corrugated tube. Chemicals in polluted water also weaken their immune systems.
Dolphins get tangled in abandoned fishing nets — called "ghost gear" — and drown because they cannot reach the surface to breathe. They also absorb toxic chemicals like mercury and PCBs through polluted fish they eat, which can make them very sick and affect their babies.
Plastic rings from six-packs and other loops get stuck around the necks of seals and sea lions when they are young pups. As they grow, the plastic cuts into their skin and can kill them. Scientists estimate that ghost fishing gear kills hundreds of thousands of seals and sea lions every year.
Parent birds collect floating plastic pieces thinking they are fish and bring them home to feed their chicks. The chicks' stomachs fill with plastic instead of real food and they starve. On Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, almost every single albatross chick has plastic in its stomach.
Tiny pieces of plastic called microplastics are now found in almost every ocean and river on Earth. Fish eat these microplastics thinking they are food. This fills their stomachs with plastic, and the toxic chemicals in plastic get into their bodies. Scientists have found microplastics in the fish that people eat for dinner.
Water pollution from factories and farms causes something called "dead zones" — areas in the ocean with so little oxygen that almost nothing can survive. These dead zones have grown 10 times bigger since 1960. Crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and everything else in those areas suffocate and die.
It is not just the ocean. Rivers and lakes are also heavily polluted. Freshwater dolphins, otters, alligators, frogs, and thousands of fish species are affected by chemical runoff from farms, factories, and cities. Many freshwater species are going extinct faster than ocean animals.
"The ocean is the planet's life support system. When we fill it with plastic and pollution, we are not just hurting fish and turtles — we are slowly breaking the system that keeps all life on Earth alive."— Research summary by Paco Petrelli
Bring your own bags, water bottles, and containers. Refusing straws and plastic utensils makes a real difference.
Only about 9% of plastic ever gets recycled. Learn what can actually be recycled in your town and do it correctly.
Any litter near water — even far from the ocean — can blow or wash into rivers and eventually reach the sea. Participate in cleanups!
Share what you know. The more people who understand this problem, the more pressure there is on companies and governments to fix it.
Organizations like Ocean Conservancy, WWF, and Surfrider Foundation work every day to clean up oceans and protect animals.
Buying sustainably-caught seafood means less fishing gear in the ocean, which means fewer animals tangled and killed.