Coral reefs are not just important ecosystems for myriad marine species, but they also protect coastal areas by reducing the power of waves hitting the coast. The same study found reefs near Indonesia contained the most plastic with Thailand and Myanmar in the middle and Australia’s reefs the least affected. The ensnared plastics causes potentially fatal conditions for coral, including skeletal eroding band disease, that causes gradual destruction.

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These images show the true impact of plastics on our oceans