World Oceans Day, marked every year on 8 June, aims to remind people of the huge role our oceans play in everyday life. The seas are the lungs of our planet, providing most of the oxygen we breathe; and also its heart, the lifeblood of communities around the world.
Our oceans regulate the climate, feed millions of people every year and are home to an incredible array of wildlife.
This year's theme is Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet, aiming to raise awareness of plastic pollution. Plastic is a serious threat because it degrades very slowly, polluting waterways for a very long time. In addition, plastic pollution impacts the health of aquatic animals because animals, including zooplankton, mistake the microbeads used in beauty products for food. Marine turtles often eat plastic bags, mistaking them for jellyfish.
A World Economic Forum report, released January 2016, estimates the oceans currently hold more than 150 million tons of plastics and warns that they will contain more plastics than fish by 2050. You can help reduce our impact on the oceans by refusing plastic bags and water bottles, and choosing cosmetics that are free of microbeads.
To mark World Oceans Day 2016, IBTimes UK presents photos of marine pollution – plastic and industrial – around the world.
A man wades through rubbish floating on the Estero de Vitas estuary in Tondo, Manila, the PhilippinesNoel Celis/AFPRubbish is strewn along a beach in Anquan village, south China's Hainan provinceAFPA boy searches for fish in the polluted sea backwaters near marina beach in the southern Indian city of ChennaiBabu/ReutersSeaWorld San Diego's senior aquarist Tony Paulicano and veterinary technician Jennifer Rego treat a sick Olive Ridley sea turtle. It was found beached on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base north of San Diego, and dehydrated, underweight and hypothermic, and was also found to have ingested plastic from rubbish in the oceanMike Aguilera/SeaWorld San Diego via Getty ImagesA boy collects recyclable items from polluted waters in front of fishing boats at Karachi harbour, PakistanAkhtar Soomro/ReutersPlastic waste collected in the sea by fishermen is seen in Naquera, eastern SpainPedro Armestre/AFPTyres and rubbish are strewn across a beach in Veracruz port on the outskirts of Panama CityCarlos Jasso/ReutersA shopping trolley and tyres lie on the sea floor in Marseille harbourBoris Horvat/AFPPlastic and other rubbish litters the shore in northern Jakarta, IndonesiaBay Ismoyo/AFPPlastic bottles and other waste cover a beach after being washed ashore near the port of Abidjan, Ivory CoastIssouf Sanogo/AFPWaste plastics are strewn on Bao beach near Dakar, SenegalSeyllou/AFPSmog covers the skyline of Beirut while empty plastic bottles litter the shore of the Mediterranean off Dbayeh, a suburb of the Lebanese capitalJoseph Eid/AFPA fisherman mends his boat as a fellow fisherman carries a box of fish at a polluted beach in Cilincing, north Jakarta, IndonesiaBeawiharta/ReutersFishermen prepare to fish amid floating rubbish off the shore of Manila Bay, the PhilippinesErik de Castro/ReutersFire boat response crews battle the blazing remnants of the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico off LouisianaUS Coast Guard/ReutersAn exhausted oil-covered brown pelican sits in a pool of oil along Queen Bess Island Pelican Rookery in Louisiana after BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spillSean Gardner/ReutersA volunteer tries to reach out to help an oil-soaked bird that washed ashore at Refugio State Beach Campground in Goleta, California, after an oil spillLara Cooper/ReutersStaff and volunteers work to clean oil off a brown pelican after up to 2,500 barrels (105,000 gallons) of oil gushed onto San Refugio State Beach in California and into the PacificLucy Nicholson/ReutersDead fish float on the surface of the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon in Rio de Janeiro, BrazilSergio Moraes/ReutersA resident shows a handful of dead shrimps which were washed up on a beach at Coronel in Chile, after water used to cool two thermoelectric plants located next to the beach was reportedly discharged into the seaJose Luis Saavedra/ReutersPeople swim at an algae-covered public beach in Qingdao, northeast China's Shandong provinceAFPA swimmer wears some of the algae polluting the sea off the coast of Qingdao. ChinaChina Daily/ReutersA fishermen pulls in his fishing net as foamy discharge, caused by pollutants, mixes with surf at a beach in Chennai, IndiaAFPA swimmer stops short of a red algae bloom at Sydney's Clovelly BeachWilliam West/AFP
