Why plastic ends up in aquatic animals' stomachs

Sometimes dead animals end up on beaches, which turn out to have a lot of plastic in their stomachs. This is why this plastic ends up in their stomachs:

- Plastic can look like food. For example, a plastic bag is seen as a jellyfish.

- Plastic gets covered by real food. For example, larger fish eat fish that have already plastic in their bodies.

- Plastic is invisible. For example, animals filtering plankton unintentionally filter microplastics as well.

- Plastic can have characteristics that attract animals from eating them.

Learn more about how plastic pollution affects marine animals:

https://www.erlijn.nl/link/scicomm.php?l=c3299d5dba