Over 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean annually, causing entanglement, ingestion, and slow death for hundreds of thousands of marine animals including whales, seals, seabirds, and turtles.
Ocean plastic causes diverse and significant animal suffering. Entangled animals experience restriction, injury from constricting loops as they grow, infection in wounds that cannot be reached for treatment, and ultimately drowning or starvation. Ingestion causes insidious harm — animals with stomachs full of plastic feel satiated while starving, or experience perforation and toxin exposure. The slow, progressive nature of plastic-caused harm makes it among the more cruel anthropogenic threats to marine wildlife. Individual rescue and entanglement removal saves specific animals, but addressing the problem at scale requires dramatic reductions in plastic production and entry into marine environments.