by Erin Minor

Plastic pollution in our ocean is growing daily. Scientists estimate 12 million U.S. tons of plastic enter the ocean every year, and it makes up 80% of all marine debris.

How can we hope to keep track of this vast amount of plastic, or detect any useful patterns to help get it under control? One way is to collect plastic samples using animals. Marine animals ingest plastic that has broken off from plastic trash and ends up in the ocean. Scientists can then measure how much of this plastic has accumulated in the bodies of these animals. Scientists have used this method for decades.

“Sampling microplastics can be challenging and expensive,” said Martin Thiel, a marine biologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC). Thiel co-authored an article in Environmental Science Advances reviewing how scientists around the world use animals to study ocean plastic. Using animals, he said, allows scientists to more efficiently collect data. “It can tell us not only how many plastics are in the environment, but how the organisms are affected by this type of pollution.”

Here are some of the most popular animals scientists use for plastic pollution research.