Many plastic containers and other items are thrown
away and end up as litter on roadsides, beaches (Figure
21-11), and oceans and other bodies of water. Each
year they threaten millions of seabirds, marine mammals
(Figure 11-5, p. 254), and sea turtles, which can
mistake a floating plastic sandwich bag for a jellyfish or
get caught in discarded plastic nets (Figure 11-10, right,
p. 260). About 80% of the plastics in the ocean are blown or washed in from beaches, rivers, storm drains,
and other sources, and the rest gets dumped into the
ocean from vessels and fishing boats