The equivalent of a rubbish lorry full of plastic enters the sea every minute.
- It takes on average 500 yearsfor a plastic bottle to break down
- Around 70%of all the litter in the oceans is made of plastic
- Around 250 speciesare known to have become entangled in plastic debris
- Around 300 speciesare known to ingest plastic litter in the environment
- 20,000 tonnes of plasticare dumped into the North Sea every year and only 15%of that is washed ashore.
- A fifth of marine litteris made up of fishing gear and other material lost at sea - the rest comes from land.
People visiting beaches and leaving behind their bottles, food packaging and cigarette butts on the sand directly contribute to plastic getting into the ocean.
With your help, the tide is turning.
Many of us have watched programmes like Blue Planet 2 and we have received a fantastic surge of enquiries from people wanting to do their bit. Here's what we're doing, and how you can help.