In the marine environment, plastic is now found everywhere. Although plastic is man-made garbage and this garbage is roughly 10%, it accounts for 60% to 80% of the marine litter because of its durability and its disintegration process of hundreds to thousands of years.

This news is not actually new, plastic was reported as a problem since the earlies ’70s but it is not until now that it has been identified as a global problem.

Plastic is comprised of microplastics (< 5 mm in diameter) and macroplastics (> 5 mm in diameter), where between both, the one that causes greater damage is the microplastic as the macroplastic becomes microplastic once this is degraded (e.g., plastic bags).

Microplastic can travel vast distances floating in seawater and this explains how the physical impact of plastic garbage on fauna is evident. There are many species that are in danger due to marine waste, once this waste is ingested by an animal can cause starvation, suffocation, laceration, infection and it can also reduce reproductive success and mortality.