(CNN) Dead sea birds and whales wash ashore with plastic in their bellies. Discarded fishing gear, plastic bags and other items accumulate in large patches throughout the ocean. Not to mention the microplastic polluting the marine environment that we can't see.

The amount of plastic that's been dumped into the ocean has been increasing , and the problem will probably only get worse.

Here are some troubling facts about the pollution crisis plaguing our oceans.

Plastic waste floats in the waters near Cartagena, Chile.

Discarded fishing gear floats in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

A seagull struggles to take flight covered by a plastic bag at Caleta Portales beach in Valparaiso, Chile.

Oil drips out as workers lay pipe into an oil well in Talpa, Texas.