Plastic is suffocating coral reefs — and it's not just bottles and bags
A new study takes a comprehensive look at the plastic debris smothering reefs, where in the ocean it's more prevalent — and how to deal with the problem.
Finding new species of fish was the goal when marine biologist Hudson Pinheiro was diving in the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines. And he found them. But while he was down there, he found something else that was deeply troubling: plastic — loads of it smothering the coral reef where the fish were living.
"It's sad," Pinheiro, currently a researcher with the University of São Paulo, told NPR. "It's super, super sad."
Pinheiro expanded his research focus beyond fish to the
