• Of all the litter in the ocean, plastic litter is the most lethal. And plastic makes up nearly 90% of marine litter.
• Small animals are smothered in plastic bags.
• Sea turtles often eat floating plastic bags, mistaking them for jellyfishes which are among their food. Sea birds and even whales die from eating plastic bags.
• Abandoned fishing nets kill by trapping animals. Marine animals that get entangled die a slow death. Air-breathing animals such as dugongs, dolphins and sea turtles drown if they are trapped in nets. Sea birds that fish in the ocean may also get entangled and die.
• Plastics don't biodegrade. But they do break up into smaller and smaller pieces. These tiny pieces of microplastic are eventually eaten by small sea creatures and thus enter the food chain. Eventually on our plate through seafood. Fish meal is also fed to livestock such as pigs and cows.

Plastic everywhere: Plastic floats. In the ocean currents, plastic trash literally travels the world.

Plastics forever: Plastic litter lasts, and lasts, and lasts...
"So ubiquitous and inexpensive are plastics that we've become a single-use, throwaway society. Synthetic plastics do not biodegrade. At best, they break and break again into smaller and smaller pieces. The fact remains that, save those incinerated, every single molecule of synthetic plastic ever created is still on this planet and probably will be for centuries".
from Breaking the cycle of plastics in the ocean by Andrew Myers Ocean Conservancy Magazine Autumn 2007

How much plastic is in the ocean?
"Findings by Dr Richard Thompson at the University of Plymouth estimate there are 300,000 items of plastic per sq km of sea surface, and 100,000 per sq km of seabed. So plastic appears to be everywhere in our seas."
from Plastics 'poisoning world's seas' By Maggie Ayre Producer BBC 7 Dec 06

Aren't Singapore's beaches clean?
"On beaches across Singapore where the public has access, the NEA has about 40 cleaners removing rubbish before most beach-goers arrive. On the popular 11-km stretch of East Coast Park, about 15 of them sweep, pick up and toss out trash on any given day, starting from 7am. The volunteers (from International Coastal Cleanup Singapore) took over their job on Saturday and collected 16,819 items weighing 2,600kg at East Coast Park alone - the highest amount of trash collected on any beach open to the public." from The coast is not clear by Shobana Kesava Straits Times 20 Sep 07.

You CAN make a difference

• Throw all your rubbish in a proper bin.
• Try to reduce the use of these things that you only use once or eventually throw away: plastics, styrofoam, plastic bags.
• Don't use balloons at parties, especially avoid helium balloons and release of such balloons, particularly near the shores.
• Clean up carefully when having an event near the shores.
• Join International Coastal Cleanup Singapore. It's NOT just about removing rubbish. It is about collecting data about marine debris. The data is compiled worldwide and used to raise awareness and encourage change in consumer habits and government policy.

• Marine litter
• Fishing related debris

• Latest media reports on marine litter on the wildsingapore news blog.
• Project Driftnet: collecting data about abandoned nets on Singapore shores.
• From the wild shores of singapore blog: Fish farm trash on our shores
  
  • Sofa not good: Fish farms and trash on Pulau Ubin
  • Impact of fish farm on Pulau Semakau?
  • Fish farm trash on northern Ubin
  • Trashy Pasir Park and fish farms
  • Fish farms and trash at Pulau Ubin
• From the wild shores of singapore blog:
  • How much damage does marine litter cause? US$1billion
  • Plastic pollution poisons marine food chain
  • Documented reports of Death-by-Balloon
  • Fireworks and balloons: harmless?
  • Killer litter: what happened to that bottle cap you tossed?
  • and all posts about marine litter