The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – one of the world’s most-cited and multidisciplinary scientific journals, publishing more than 3,500 research papers annually – recently released a new study. Led by Ocean Conservancy (a U.S.-based organization that works globally to protect the ocean) researchers, this most extensive study ever quantified the extent to which a range of plastic types — from soft, flexible plastics such as bags and food wrappers, to hard plastics ranging from fragments to whole items like beverage bottles — result in the death of seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals. The study also found that nearly half of the individual animals who had ingested plastics are red-listed as threatened species— that is, near-threatened, vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered — by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Scientists estimate that more than 11 million metric tons of plastics enter the ocean every year. Much of those plastics are single-use items like those found by volunteers during Ocean Conservancy’s annual International Coastal Cleanup®. Since 1986, more than 19 million volunteers have removed over 400 million pounds of trash from beaches and waterways worldwide. 

Ocean Conservancy’s Senior Director of Conservation Cleanups Allison Schutes says: “When you pick up just a few pieces of plastic, you are helping to protect the life of a marine animal. And when we all clean up together, we are helping to protect countless lives.” The organisation’s Director of Plastics Policy Dr. Anja Brandon states: “In the fight to protect our marine wildlife, every policy and every individual action matters.”