<P> Entanglement in plastic debris has been responsible for the deaths of many marine organisms, such as fish, seals, turtles, and birds . These animals get caught in the debris and end up suffocating or drowning . Because they are unable to untangle themselves, they also die from starvation or from their inability to escape predators . Being entangled also often results in severe lacerations and ulcers . In a 2006 report known as Plastic Debris in the World's Oceans, it was estimated that at least 267 different animal species have suffered from entanglement and ingestion of plastic debris . It has been estimated that over 400,000 marine mammals perish annually due to plastic pollution in oceans . Marine organisms get caught in discarded fishing equipment, such as ghost nets . Ropes and nets used to fish are often made of synthetic materials such as nylon, making fishing equipment more durable and buoyant . These organisms can also get caught in circular plastic packaging materials, and if the animal continues to grow in size, the plastic can cut into their flesh . Equipment such as nets can also drag along the seabed, causing damage to coral reefs . </P> <P> Sea turtles are affected by plastic pollution . Some species are consumers of jelly fish, but often mistake plastic bags for their natural prey . This plastic debris can kill the sea turtle by obstructing the oesophagus . So too are whales; large amounts of plastics have been found in the stomachs of beached whales In June 2018, more than 80 plastic bags were found inside a dying pilot whale that washed up on the shores of Thailand . </P> <P> Some of the tiniest bits of plastic are being consumed by small fish, in a part of the pelagic zone in the ocean called the Mesopelagic zone, which is 200 to 1000 metres below the ocean surface, and completely dark . Not much is known about these fish, other than that there are many of them . They hide in the darkness of the ocean, avoiding predators and then swimming to the ocean's surface at night to feed . Plastics found in the stomachs of these fish were collected during Malaspina's circumnavigation, a research project that studies the impact of global change on the oceans . </P> <P> A study conducted by Scripps Institution of Oceanography showed that the average plastic content in the stomachs of 141 mesopelagic fish over 27 different species was 9.2% . Their estimate for the ingestion rate of plastic debris by these fish in the North Pacific was between 12000 and 24000 tons per year . The most popular mesopelagic fish is the lantern fish . It resides in the central ocean gyres, a large system of rotating ocean currents . Since lantern fish serve as a primary food source for the fish that consumers purchase, including tuna and swordfish, the plastics they ingest become part of the food chain . The lantern fish is one of the main bait fish in the ocean, and it eats large amounts of plastic fragments, which in turn will not make them nutritious enough for other fish to consume . </P>

Serious effects of plastic pollution on human health