Where does all this stuff come from?
It's way more than the bottles you see bobbing on the surface. It's tiny plastic bits found in Arctic snow, fertiliser washing off farms straight into the sea, and untreated sewage flowing into bays. And most of it? It starts on land, not at sea.
Plastic & microplastic
By 2050, the ocean could contain more plastic than fish by weight. Microplastics have been found in fish, sea salt, drinking water — and in human blood.
Nutrient runoff & dead zones
Nitrogen and phosphorus from farms trigger massive algal blooms. When the algae die, decomposition strips oxygen from the water, suffocating everything beneath.
Oil & chemical spills
From catastrophic tanker spills to chronic small leaks, hydrocarbons coat shorelines, kill seabirds, and persist in sediments for decades.
Ghost gear
Lost or abandoned fishing nets — 640,000 tonnes per year — keep killing marine life long after they've been discarded.
What SDG 14 says about it
Target 14.1 says every country has to seriously cut ocean pollution — especially the stuff coming from land — by 2025. There's also a global plastics treaty being worked on right now, and honestly it's the biggest test yet of whether the world actually means it.