Welfare of Wild Animals in Marine Debris Entanglement

Marine debris entanglement kills and injures hundreds of thousands of marine mammals, turtles, seabirds, and fish annually, causing welfare harm that ranges from drowning to slow strangulation and mobility impairment.

Key Facts

An estimated 300,000 cetaceans die from entanglement in fishing gear annually, making it the leading cause of marine mammal mortality globally
Ghost gear — lost or abandoned fishing equipment — continues to catch and kill marine wildlife for decades after abandonment
Hawaiian monk seals are particularly vulnerable to marine debris entanglement in Pacific garbage patch accumulation zones
Disentanglement teams from NOAA and BDMLR perform high-risk operations to free large entangled whales at sea
Plastic ring packaging and six-pack rings cause entanglement injury to seabirds, turtles, and small marine mammals
Aquatic animals entangled in debris may live with wounds for months or years before dying from infection, starvation, or drowning

Welfare Considerations

Marine debris entanglement is a welfare emergency affecting marine wildlife at global scale. The suffering of entangled animals is prolonged and severe: animals may carry constricting debris for months, sustaining deepening wounds that become infected, losing swimming ability, and eventually drowning or starving. Disentanglement is a valuable intervention but reaches only a fraction of affected animals. Prevention through reducing marine debris inputs, removing ghost gear, and redesigning fishing equipment to reduce entanglement risk are the highest-impact welfare interventions for this issue.

What You Can Do

Participate in coastal and underwater clean-up events to remove marine debris
Cut all plastic packaging rings before disposal to prevent wildlife entanglement
Support ghost gear removal programmes through donations to Global Ghost Gear Initiative
Advocate for fishing gear modifications that reduce ghost gear generation and entanglement risk
Donate to marine mammal disentanglement training and response organisations