What Is Marine Debris?

A cartoon crash course

Video Read time:
Projects: U.S. Ocean Conservation & Conservation Science

Navigate to:

  • Table of Contents
What Is Marine Debris?

This video is hosted by YouTube. In order to view it, you must consent to the use of “Marketing Cookies” by updating your preferences in the Cookie Settings link below.


This video is hosted by YouTube. In order to view it, you must consent to the use of “Marketing Cookies” by updating your preferences in the Cookie Settings link below.


Marine debris is all the manmade stuff that ends up in the oceans—from soda cans and plastic bottles to sunken ships. There’s marine debris in every ocean on Earth, and all that junk can kill and injure sea life, impede navigation, leach chemicals, and even end up in our food.

Nationally syndicated cartoonist Jim Toomey, creator of Sherman's Lagoon, has joined forces with The Pew Charitable Trusts to illustrate "marine debris" and other terms associated with our oceans.

Watch the full ocean terms video series.

America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
bycatch
bycatch
Article January 27, 2016

A Visual Glossary of Ocean Terminology

Cartoon crash course
Quick View
bycatch
Article January 27, 2016

Ocean conservation is essential but sometimes difficult to understand. Pew joined forces with cartoonist Jim Toomey, the artist behind “Sherman’s Lagoon,” on 10 animated videos that explain the complicated concepts that guide efforts to protect our oceans.

RELATED
Topics
Ocean Conservation
Projects
U.S. Ocean Conservation Conservation Science

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

A scuba diver wearing a black full-body wetsuit and a pale-yellow air tank glides through fairly clear, shallow waters above an expansive bed of seagrasses. The diver is holding a thin line that extends toward the surface, and silhouettes of some small fish are visible in the background.

Article

May 25, 2023 How Maps Inform Climate and Conservation Decisions
A white, medium-sized plastic bag lies on a thick lawn of grass. In the background is the Eiffel Tower, a number of lampposts, and three pedestrians passing by.

Article

May 22, 2023 Push to End Plastic Pollution Must Take Comprehensive Approach
Four deer stand nervously in a field of dead grasses next to a thin wire fence. A grove of trees and some brush are visible in the background.

Article

May 22, 2023 Farm Bill Revisions That Would Help Wildlife and Habitat

MORE FROM PEW

High angle aerial view of Indianapolis and the White River park How States Are Boosting Broadband with Pandemic Funds
A close-up of a dark-brown-skinned woman’s hand holding a cellphone. She wears a beaded bracelet and is sitting beside a brick wall and a window. Most U.S. Adults Remain Unaware of 988 Crisis Lifeline
People walking Southern States Gain Residents the Fastest
Getty Images UK Pharmacies Offer Normalcy for Methadone Patients
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?