The ocean floor is turning into a dumping ground. A recent study found that millions of tons of plastic litter the bottom of the world’s oceans and seas. About half of that debris sits in shallow waters near coastlines. And a lot more is expected to settle in the oceans over the coming decades.
The world generates millions of tons of plastic every year—enough to fill a garbage truck every minute. And a lot of it finds its way into the ocean—through runoff, offshore dumping, lost fishing gear, and other sources.
When Pinocchio and his father, Geppetto, were swallowed by a whale, they started a fire to make the whale sneeze them out. That’s not exactly the strategy that juvenile Japanese eels use, but the eels have managed to find a way to escape the stomachs of predators that swallow them—and biologists have captured their Houdini-like feats on video.
