FAQs

1) Q: What is the main contributor to the litter in the oceans?

The main contributor to the pollution is plastic bags. Millions of plastic bags can be found in the ocean.

2) Q:What types of animals are affected by the marine pollution?

The animals affected by the pollution are ones such as turtles, seals, dolphins, whales, sea otters, sharks, smaller fish, and even birds. Everyone in the ocean is affected by it- especially if it is a different type pollution like an oil spill- then even seaweed is affected.

3) Q: If the problem is in the ocean, how are humans affected by it?

The marine pollution affects humans because it hurts the economy by losing money for companies around beach towns, it can cause injuries, and can eventually affect the food chain.

4) Q: What has been done to stop the marine pollution?

There are many groups around the world who organize beach clean ups and "adopt-a-beach" programs where people can donate money for the beaches to be maintained. Also, the public continues to find out about the problem by groups whose jobs it is to keep the public aware.

5) Q: How can we fix the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

Although there is no immediate course of action someone can do to clean up, especially because it's not one country's responsibility, biologists have been studying it and visiting it to see what can be done. An easy way for it to stop it from growing is to pick up litter on the ground because it can eventually lead to the ocean- and to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

6) Q: How much money goes into cleaning up beaches every year?

It's different everywhere, but in California, 1 billion dollars of the tax payers money goes to the cleaning up of beaches.

7) Q:Besides litter, what are other types of marine pollution?

There is oil spills, noise pollution, chemical pollution (which can come from litter), and many other types- anything that affects the ocean in a negative way is probably ocean pollution.

8) Q:What is being done to help the animals directly who have been affected by the litter in the ocean?

There are animal rescue centers that help animals who have been found and injured by pollution. There are many different types of injuries- from having their intestines clogged up by a plastic bag, to wounds from animals trying to eat pieces of glass.

9) Q:How did this problem start?

Marine pollution started in our industrial age when the world started to use oil, release more toxins into the air from things such as factories, and also when the use of plastic bags became a popular and easy solution to carrying things.

10) Q: What can I do to help the problem

There are organizations who take donations to "adopt-a-seal", where someone can pay $25 dollars to pay for an injured seals food and medicine. Also, DON'T LITTER!! and pick up any trash you see on the beach or ground.