Did You Know?

• It is against the law to throw plastic into the sea.
• Sometimes what you think is just a sand bar or a reef is actually land under Australian law.
• Ship operators can be fined up to A$260,000 for dumping garbage at sea.
• Fishing nets can place the lives of fish and marine animals in danger.
• You can help by reporting people who throw rubbish into the ocean.
• You can help by throwing away your rubbish responsibly, such as in a rubbish bin.
• Oil is a natural product and can dissolve naturally, but plastic is man-made and will take a very long time to break down and dissolve.
• Rubbish thrown on the ground in the street can end up in our rivers and oceans.
• Most rubbish in the sea is a result of being thrown away on land.
• Each year plastic waste kills up to 100,000 marine mammals.
• Each year plastic waste kills up to 1 million seabirds.
• Each year plastic waste kills so many fish it is impossible to count.
• It takes longer for the sun to break apart plastic that is in the ocean than it takes to break apart plastic on land.
• The North Pacific Gyre is a gigantic swirling whirlpool in the Pacific Ocean which has collected rubbish from all over the Pacific and is now the size of NSW.