Statistics show that approximately 8,000 metric tons of discarded commercial fishing nets end up sinking into the waters of the North Atlantic each year. This “ghost gear” has become the primary cause of entanglement, injury, and even death among whales, dolphins, and sea turtles. Traceability studies have identified two primary sources of this pollution: first,…

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has officially completed its summary of this round of discharges. The operation, which began on June 1 and was suspended twice due to equipment malfunctions, ultimately resulted in the discharge of a cumulative total of 7,927 metric tons of radioactive water into the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with a total radioactive…

An offshore oil and gas project off the coast of Guyana in the Caribbean has sparked massive public protests. ExxonMobil is currently conducting offshore drilling and high-frequency seismic gun exploration operations in the area, during which drilling mud and oil-contaminated wastewater are discharged directly into coastal waters. The low-frequency sound waves generated by the exploration…

Due to the El Niño phenomenon, ocean currents have become abnormal. Compounded by severe storms, massive amounts of marine debris—including plastic and discarded fishing nets—have been washed ashore along Guatemala’s Pacific coast, covering several kilometers of beach with waste. Marine life is highly susceptible to accidentally ingesting this debris, posing a serious threat to their…

The United Nations has released the “State of the World’s Oceans” report, which reveals that 52.1 million metric tons of plastic enter the oceans annually. There are 24.4 trillion microplastic particles floating in the upper layers of the ocean, and microplastics have even been widely detected in the bodies of deep-sea organisms. Compounded by accelerating…

Pollution and biological invasions in the Bohai Sea continue to worsen. Monitoring data shows that microplastic levels in the surface waters of the Bohai Sea have risen by 18% year-on-year, with the primary sources of pollution being shipping operations, discarded fishing nets, and domestic sewage. In addition, ballast water from ships has introduced large numbers…

A small amount of crude oil has leaked from an aging oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Driven by southeasterly winds, the oil slick is slowly drifting toward the coast of Louisiana. While it has not yet reached shore, monitoring shows that hydrocarbon concentrations in the surrounding waters have exceeded safe levels,…

Off the coast of California, between Los Angeles and San Diego, a long, narrow oil slick has formed due to a fuel leak from an ocean-going cargo ship. Combined with the continuous influx of plastic waste from coastal cities and discarded fishing nets, the spill has contaminated an area of 12 square kilometers of coastal…

Monitoring data from the Baltic Sea off the coasts of Sweden and Finland indicate that ocean acidification is continuing to worsen. Emissions from shipping fuel and ballast water discharges, combined with direct discharges of domestic sewage from coastal cities, as well as excessive levels of microplastics and sulfides, have led to a sharp decline in…

Recently, due to an offshore oil spill and plastic pollution off the coast of California, large numbers of sea lions, seabirds, and sea turtles have died after accidentally ingesting plastic. Additionally, the migration route of the endangered gray whales in Santa Barbara Bay has been disrupted by pollution, leading to a continued decline in their…