Types | Marine Debris Program

Marine debris comes in all shapes and sizes. It can vary from large trawl nets, accidentally discarded or lost at sea, to plastic pieces smaller than a grain of rice that float throughout the water column.

Additional Photo Types

A dive crew transporting derelict fishing gear back to shore after a removal expedition.

Naguabo fishing vessel returning to shore to offload derelict fishing gear.

A sunken vessel is viewed underwater and is located in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Three boats have run aground in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

A derelict vessel in Panama City, Florida after Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Florence debris collected in the coastal marshes of North Carolina.

A person bends down to pick up some lumber in a pile that was created by a hurricane in North Carolina.

Removing dock debris, with large construction equipment, left in the wake of Hurricane Florence.

A sailboat, left in the wake of Hurricane Irma, being lifted out of the marsh and maritime forest edge in Charleston Harbor.

The South Beach of Gore Point on the Kenai Peninsula, a noted “catcher” beach for marine debris.

Microplastics found on a Lake Ontario beach.

Debris at Magee Wildlife Area near Oak Harbor, OH.

People organize marine debris into piles on the grass.

Bucket of microplastics (Photo: Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii).

Marine debris found on a sandy beach in Orange County California.

A person bends down on a beach to view derelict aquacuture gear that has been left on a beach.

Three people stand on a beach examining derelict crab pots that are resting in the sand.

A close up view of microplastics in a pile on a table.

Chair covered in barnacles and other growth.

A coffee cup found on the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (Photo Credit: NOAA)

Shoes that were collected in the NWHI.

Plastic disposable lighters.

Plastic bottle caps.

A laundry basket filled with plastic bottles.

A pile of collected derelict crab traps.

Plastic debris littering a marsh. (Photo Credit: Dauphin Island Sea Lab)

A beach littered with plastic debris. (Photo Credit: Dauphin Island Sea Lab)

A pile of plastic toothbrush debris.

A pile of derelict crab traps.

Pink flamingo decoration made out of pipe cleaners on a beach.

Two armchairs on a beach.

Debris along the eastern shoreline of Eastern Island. This photo is a before shot from the 2016 marine debris removal mission. (Photo Credit: NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program)

Debris along the eastern shoreline of Eastern Island. This photo is a before shot from the 2016 marine debris removal mission. (Photo Credit: NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program).

The Marine Debris team removes a large bundle of thin plastic film weighing 270 kg. (594 lbs.) from the southeastern shoreline of Eastern Island. (Photo Credit: NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program)

Two piles of marine debris collected from separate 300-m shoreline segments are staged to be loaded onto the small boat. (NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program)

Remnants of rubber balloons with strings attached. (photo: Russ Lewis)

Before photo of the western shore of Eastern Island.

A plastic toilet seat washed up on the shoreline at Eastern Island, Midway Atoll.

A rubber boot washed up on the sandy shores of North Beach, Sand Island, Midway Atoll.

A curious Laysan Albatross checks out a toothbrush on the beach. Last year the Marine Debris team removed 705 toothbrushes and personal care items from the shorelines of Midway Atoll.

Mylar balloons on the beach, found at the Long Beach Peninsula.

A derelict fishing net washed up on the rocky shores of Sand Island, Midway Atoll.

A toy motorcycle washed up on the sandy shores of North Beach, Sand Island, Midway Atoll.

Marine Debris on an Alaskan Beach

A researcher takes data notes on a vessel in Dog River.

Bowling Debris

Plastic Bottle Caps

Plastic Bottles

Horn Island Barge Removal

Sawdust

Marine Debris in Hawaii

Derelict Vessel in American Samoa

Microplastics

Pre-production Plastic Pellets

Debris from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf of America Region.

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For citation purposes, unless otherwise noted, this article was authored by the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

Last updated Tue, 03/11/2025 - 01:24 pm EDT