Plastic debris found in the deepest part of the ocean

Plastic trash is now so pervasive, it has even made its way to the deepest part of the ocean, National Geographic reports. Scientists found a plastic bag almost 11 kilometers deep in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean while combing through a database of photos from thousands of submersible dives made over the past 30 years. One-third of all debris in the database, created to provide a record of trash in the ocean depths, were plastics, mostly single-use products. In some photos, deep-sea creatures like sea anemones were entangled in the plastic. Writing in Marine Policy , the researchers say the production of plastic waste needs to be drastically reduced to protect the deep-sea environment.