Number of species worldwide affected by marine debris, and as much as 80% of that litter is plastic.

Amount of waste, mostly plastic, but also ropes, pieces of net and other debris lodged in its stomach of a 6-ton, 33-foot long sperm whale that washed up on the beach of Cabo de Palos, Spain on February 27. Officials said the whale died of an abdominal infection, called peritonitis: It just couldn't digest the waste it had swallowed, causing its digestive system to rupture.