Marine Animals

Marine Debris and Animal Welfare: Entanglement and Ingestion

Marine debris including plastic, fishing gear, and derelict equipment kills and injures millions of marine animals annually.

Key Facts

An estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean annually
Ghost fishing gear kills over 136,000 seals, sea lions, and large whales per year
Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish; 52% of sea turtles have ingested plastic
Microplastics are now found in the blood and tissues of virtually all marine animals
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch covers an area twice the size of Texas

Welfare Considerations

Marine animals entangled in fishing gear drown or develop severe lacerations as lines cut into tissue during growth. Plastic ingestion causes intestinal blockage, internal injuries, and starvation. Seabirds feed plastic to chicks who die with stomachs full of debris. Microplastics cause endocrine disruption and inflammation. Each piece of marine plastic represents potential suffering at individual animal scale.

What You Can Do

Eliminate single-use plastic from your daily life
Participate in beach and waterway cleanup events
Support extended producer responsibility legislation for plastic packaging
Donate to Ocean Cleanup, Ghost Gear Initiative, and similar programs
Advocate for mandatory ghost gear retrieval programs in fisheries regulations