Marine debris has become one among the most persistent pollution problems facing the today’s world. Marine debris refers to any manufactured solid substance such as fishing nets, plastic bottles and bags, food wrappers, balloons and other fishing vessels that enters the maritime environment, whether purposefully or unexpectedly. Statistics from European Environment Agency shows that more than 80% of the debris found on marine, come from land based activities such as agriculture, untreated sewage and improper discharge of waste from foods and other industrial products.

Marine facts from Condor Ferries 2021 Report shows us that, more than 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic wastes are estimated to be in our water bodies, which covers the major part of our planet earth; And approximately 269,000 tons of them tend to float, while more than 4 billion microfibers per kilometer square dwell below the surface.

This leads towards pollution of marine environment which affects marine species. It is furthermore estimated that more than 100,000 marine species die from getting entangled in plastics yearly through getting trapped by them or consuming them unknowingly as meals, which is also dangerous towards our health; since we are also beneficiaries of marine species as our meals. One may ask him or herself a question, what if we consume what they consumed from the water bodies? The plastic toxins which takes hundreds of years to biodegrade, are extremely harmful to our health as they may result into complications with fertility, impeded infant neurodevelopment, immunological abnormalities and even increased risk of hormonal related cancer.

We need to take actions as soon as we are aware of how harmful it is to our planet and our health, for the sake of our todays and tomorrows.