Ocean Plastic and Marine Animal Welfare

Ocean plastic causes direct welfare harm to marine animals through entanglement, ingestion and habitat degradation. Understanding the scale and solutions is essential for effective action.

Key Facts

An estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic enters the ocean annually from land-based sources
Over 700 marine species are known to be affected by ocean plastic through entanglement or ingestion
Seabirds including albatrosses feed plastic to chicks, causing starvation from false satiation
Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, causing intestinal blockage and starvation
Ghost fishing gear causes prolonged entanglement suffering in whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds
Microplastics are now found in the digestive systems of virtually all marine species sampled
The Ocean Cleanup project is removing accumulated plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Welfare Considerations

Ocean plastic causes direct, prolonged welfare harm to individual marine animals at enormous scale. Entangled whales and seals suffer for weeks or months with constrictive injuries causing deep lacerations and progressive debilitation before death. Seabirds with stomachs full of plastic suffer from starvation while appearing full. Sea turtles with intestinal blockages from plastic ingestion experience obstruction, systemic toxicity from plastic additives and painful death. Ghost fishing gear continues to catch and kill animals indefinitely after loss or abandonment. The scale of marine plastic pollution means that its welfare impact affects billions of individual animals annually across hundreds of species. The most effective welfare interventions address plastic at source through production reduction and waste management improvement, complemented by ocean cleanup and fishing gear retrieval programmes.

What You Can Do

Dramatically reduce single-use plastic consumption to reduce ocean plastic at source
Support deposit return schemes and extended producer responsibility legislation for plastic packaging
Participate in beach and waterway clean-up events to prevent plastic entering the ocean
Donate to Ocean Cleanup, World Animal Protection or ORCA welfare programmes addressing marine plastic
Advocate for fishing gear marking requirements and retrieval programmes to reduce ghost fishing