The scariest thing in the deep sea is this: plastic pollution.
Large amounts of discarded trash end up in the ocean. Plastic bags, aluminum cans, and fishing debris not only clutter our beaches, but accumulate in the open ocean and even the deep sea.
In 2013, researchers in MBARI’s Video Lab conducted a comprehensive review of our meticulously-cataloged underwater video looking for observations of ocean trash. The largest proportion of the debris consisted of objects made of plastic. Of these objects, more than half were plastic bags.
Plastic pollution puts deep-sea animals at risk. On the seafloor, bags and other plastic trash can smother marine life. In the midwater, drifting debris can entangle or choke animals or damage their delicate structures.
