The Trouble With Trash In Oceans

by Adalyn & Milly
Published February 21, 2025

Have you ever had a piece of trash and were too lazy to throw it away, so you just threw it on the ground? Trash is a huge issue in the world, and according to The Economist 83％ of people care about pollution in the ocean but 26％ of people really care about fixing pollution in the ocean. Pollution in the ocean can really affect animals that live in the ocean.

Trash can get in the ocean, even if you throw it in a forest. This is because when rain comes it might wash it away and then it would go in a drain to the ocean. According to The Center for Biological Diversity there's about 75 to 199 million tons which animals can eat. Also according to National Geographic, sea animals eat plastic debris.That basically means all the animals think that the debris is food, but they're basically eating 75-199 million tons of debris. That can make them really sick. This is a really big issue in our world. Trash in the oceans is everywhere. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there's a big place in the ocean called the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” where there is so much debris that if animals come close they could be caught in the trash or eat some of it.

Plankton, shellfish, birds, fish, marine mammals, and sea turtles from all parts of the globe and from various depths of the ocean have been confirmed to ingest plastic debris. The amount and type of plastic they eat often relates directly to the animal’s feeding behavior. Passive feeders, or animals that filter their food from water or soil, may unintentionally eat microplastics with their food. Animals that are active feeders, that search for and capture their food, ingest plastic not only accidentally while feeding, but also any debris inside of their prey. 

Trash affects animals in many ways. One effect is soiled water. Soiled water is water in an “unsaturated system”. Soiled water can clog sea animals' gills, which could cause them to die. 

There are alot of things people are doing to help. Some of them are: not using products that have microbeads, or tiny plastic particles,  recycling their trash, banning plastic bags, or getting all the trash that's on the beach because that can be washed up into the ocean.

What can you do to help? There are lots of ways you can help such as recycling trash, doing ocean cleanups, telling people not to throw trash on the beach, fishing responsibly, avoiding harmful products, avoiding microbeads, and so much more.