![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/plastic.jpg\")
\nWhether they\u2019re big like the majestic whales or small like the delicate corals, more than 700 marine organisms are known to be killed either by the ingestion of plastic or entanglement, resulting in more than 100 million deaths each year \u2013 that we know of!
\nIt\u2019s not news that our oceans and the array of species that live in them are succumbing to the poison of plastic \u2013 but do you know just how bad plastic can be to our environment? Read on to find out.<\/p>\n
Plastic pollution is harming marine animals: Seals, whales, dolphins, seabirds, fish, turtles, and many other animals are becoming sick and even dying because of this deadly environmental concern. Plastic accumulating in our oceans and on our beaches is a global crisis \u2013 at the rate it\u2019s going, plastic is expected to outweigh all the fish in the sea by 2050. It\u2019s clear that plastic pollution impacts virtually every living organism in, or thriving off of, the ocean \u2013 which is simply unacceptable. Whether they\u2019re big like the majestic whales or small like the delicate corals, more than 700 marine organisms are known to be killed either by the ingestion of plastic or entanglement, resulting in more than 100 million deaths each year \u2013 that we know of! It\u2019s not news that our oceans and the array of … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4272145428,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5644\/revisions\/4272145428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMicroplastics are amongst our biggest environmental threat. If you don\u2019t know what they are, microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic which come from larger plastics that have degraded over time. They\u2019re too small to see from a boat or a plane, they\u2019re also impossible to remove, and they\u2019re capable of causing harm to both human and marine health \u2013 and they\u2019re filling our oceans at an alarming rate.
\nWhat\u2019s worse, plastic waste can encourage the growth of pathogens in the ocean. According to a recent study<\/a>, corals that come into contact with plastic have an 89% chance of contracting disease.<\/p>\nThe Effects of Plastic<\/h2>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/dustan-woodhouse-675082-unsplash.jpg\")
\nAccording to a 2016 report from the United Nations<\/a>, at least 800 species worldwide are affected by marine debris, and as much as 80% of that litter is plastic. It\u2019s estimated that up to 13 tons of plastic gets washed up into the ocean each year, and marine animals can ingest or become entangled in this waste, causing them to\u2026
\nSuffocate \u2013 In late 2018, a dead sperm whale was washed ashore in eastern Indonesia after choking and dying on a horrifying collection of plastic trash, including plastic bags, bottles, flip-flops, and 115 drinking cups.
\nStarve \u2013 Scientists estimate that 60 percent of all seabird species have eaten pieces of plastic. Some of these animals end up starving themselves to death after doing so, mistakenly believing they have eaten enough because their stomachs are always full. In fact, many seabirds are found dead with their stomachs full of indigestible waste.
\nDrown \u2013 Entangled marine animals may be unable to surface, or become exhausted from drag and drown.
\nWhile some animals like dolphins are too intelligent to eat plastic, they\u2019re still susceptible to contamination through their prey that might have ingested synthetic compounds.
\nIf you think us humans on dry land are safe from the effects of plastic \u2013 think again! Most plastic products are estimated to take up to hundreds of years to fully decompose, but some of them break down much quicker into microplastics, which in turn end up in the seafood we eat.<\/p>\nThe Fight Against Plastic<\/h2>\n
\nIf you wish to learn more about the biggest threats facing our oceans right now<\/a> or how to plan an eco-friendly holiday for the summer<\/a>, head to our blog<\/a> now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"