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Plastic items, such as this fishing net, can trap, entangle and sometimes kill marine animals like this turtle.

In 2014, the Ocean Conservancy collected millions of pieces of rubbish from beaches. Five of the top six items were made from plastic. Worryingly there are trillions of pieces still in the ocean, with more added every day.

This albatross was found on Midway Island, in the middle of the Pacific. Midway is over 2,500 miles from both Japan and the west coast of the USA. Even in these remote areas, marine animals are still confusing plastic with food. This albatross died because its stomach was so full of plastic, it couldn't eat any proper food.

Microplastic particles can also end up inside smaller sea creatures. This copepod, a type of zooplankton, has eaten small pieces of plastic coloured with a fluorescent dye, which it has mistaken for algae.