Marine litter Ingested by animals
Plastic items, both in micro- and macro-scale, are ingested by various organisms in the marine environment. In the nature plastics have been detected for example from marine mammals, seabirds, fishes, bivalves and other invertebrates. Part of the ocean’s plastic load is hence distributed in the biota even though the extent of this is still unclear and needs more research. The amounts and impacts of ingested plastics in different taxa are further discussed in the section Plastic ingestion.