THE EFFECTS OF
OCEAN TRASH
Imagine you are sitting on a beach, surrounded by white sand and crystal-clear water. In the water, you can see colorful fish dart in and out of their coral reef homes. It’s calm and quiet, and you can relax.
Now imagine you are on a different beach. It’s still quiet, but it feels more sinister. The sand is no longer white, the water is no longer clear. There is a two-foot high mountain of trash lining the shore, and birds pick through it.
This is a common sight now on beaches all over the world. National Geographic reports that since 2007, nearly 400,000 volunteers around the world have picked up more than 6 million pounds of trash on beaches around the world.1
Ocean trash does more than just kill ocean wildlife. It damages boats, commercial and local fisheries, discourages swimming and nearly poisons the water.2 Some beaches are also covered in under 5 to 10 feet of trash.2 Marine debris also causes ecosystem alteration. Marine plants and coral reefs can be suffocated by plastic bags and fishing nets, thus destroying the homes of hundreds of species.3
Title: "Kecil Beach Trash"
Artist: Colocho
By: S. Yarker