Different types of plastics spread differently throughout the ocean, as Styrofoam breaks into smaller parts, the polystyrene components inside of it sink lower in the ocean. Bigger waste like water bottles or plastic bags float on the surface of the water.

 As far as plastic entering the ocean, about 20% of the trash comes from ships and platforms that are offshore. The rest sources from litter being blown into the sea, picked up by tides on the beach, or intentional garbage dumping. The worse part is, these plastics don’t biodegrade, so they break up into tiny pieces that are consumed by fish and sea mammals. Plastic is killing more than 100,000 sea turtles and birds a year from ingestion and entanglement.

In fact, not only do the toxins in plastic affect the ocean, but also acting like sponges, they soak up other toxins from outside sources before entering the ocean. As animals in the ocean ingest these chemicals, we as humans also ingest these chemicals through contaminated fish and mammals.