An aerial image of river tributaries flowing into the ocean.

Pollution

Preview

Plastic bottles and other marine debris cover a rocky beach in Curacao.

Marine Plastics Overview

Are you a student researching marine plastic or someone looking to learn more about marine plastic? This overview dives into everything to know.

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Featured Content

An oil drilling platform in oil-free water two years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gulf Oil Spill

Midway Atoll, where these photos were taken, is more than 2,000 miles from the nearest land.

Laysan Albatrosses’ Plastic Problem

Fish swim around the wreck of the HMT Bedfordshire, an Arctic fishing trawler that was converted into an anti-submarine warship during World War II, and sunk off the coast of North Carolina.

Underwater WWII Wrecks – Pollution or Cultural Heritage?

Jellyfish produce mucus, especially when stressed, which can interact with oil and break it down. This moon jellyfish is sloughing off mucus that has mixed with droplets of oil.

How Jellyfish Break Down Oil After a Spill

On coral reefs fish are important links in the food chain that sustains higher-order predators (including humans) and keeps everything in balance.

Fish Get Risky Around Oil

Are You An Educator?

At Smithsonian Ocean, we have lesson plans, activities, and resources to help you engage your students in the wonders of our oceans.

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Pollution Articles

Satellite view of the Gulf Coast oil spill off of Louisiana, April 29, 2010.

State of Emergency in the Gulf

Students share a microscope to get a closer look at plankton samples from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

A Current Event in the Classroom: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

A tiny larval (baby) starfish.

The Invisible Loss: The Impacts of Oil You Do Not See

Photograph of an oiled brown pelican squatting on the beach.

Animals and the Oil Spill: What Can You Do?

Pile of Plastic Trash

Plastic Trash Plagues the Ocean

Three Killer whales (Orca) swim along side researchers.

Listening for Clues About Sonar’s Effects on Marine Mammals

A photo of plastic trash floating in the water, taken from below the surface.

Witness to a Plastic Invasion

Plastic bottles and other marine debris cover a rocky beach in Curacao.

Ocean Trash: Marine Debris From Shore to Sea

A student uses a marker to decorate a reusable lunch bag with ocean creatures

Teaching Your Students About Marine Debris: a Classroom Activity

Mark Dodd, a wildlife biologist from Georgia's Department of Natural Resources, surveying oiled sargassum seaweed in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

The Oil Spill, Two Years Later

Fish swim around the wreck of the HMT Bedfordshire, an Arctic fishing trawler that was converted into an anti-submarine warship during World War II, and sunk off the coast of North Carolina.

Underwater WWII Wrecks – Pollution or Cultural Heritage?

Seagrasses are flowering plants that can form dense underwater meadows and are an important shallow water habitat.

How Coastal Seagrass Feeds the Deep

Banner Credit

European Space Agency