Restoring ocean health

Our ocean is in crisis. We’re determined to tackle this growing emergency by working with communities, businesses and governments to turn the tide on ocean pollution and restore ocean health.

Who we are

We're the Marine Conservation Society, a UK-wide community of ocean lovers all working together towards our vision of a sea full of life, where nature flourishes and people thrive.

From cleaning beaches to shaping government policies, together we're working towards a cleaner, better-protected, healthier ocean - one we can all enjoy.

The facts about pollution

Marine pollution is diverse. From tiny fibres that shed from clothes to chemicals washed down the sink, pollutants including plastic, chemicals and bacteria travel from our towns and cities to our seas. If we don’t tackle pollution at the source, these highly persistent chemicals, plastics and other pollution will continue to increase in our ocean, causing untold damage to habitats and marine life and having a massive impact on our ocean's health.

9-14

million

tonnes of plastic enter our ocean every year

Beach litter

Credit: AfriramPOE via Shutterstock
Pollution in the ocean

Credit: Mranaked via Shutterstock
Disposable vapes littering

Credit: Aylesbury Wombles
Sewage pollution

Credit: Shutterstock | Olga Pedan
Fish and plastic pollution in the sea

Credit: Rich Carey via Shutterstock

The threats to our ocean' health

Often invisible to the human eye, harmful chemicals are polluting our ocean and impacting marine life.

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), aka ‘forever chemicals’, are present in all water on Earth. Wildlife from the North to South Pole, and everywhere in between, is at risk.

We need to turn the tide on chemical pollution and stop it at source before it's too late.

Find out what we're doing to stop chemical pollution.

Water companies across England have become too reliant on using storm overflows to dump raw sewage in our waters, rather than improve their infrastructure.

The raw sewage contains a cocktail of bacteria, viruses, harmful chemicals, and microplastics.

This is a disaster for our ocean and it's putting people, planet and wildlife at risk.

Our ocean may appear vast, but the devastating human footprint is found everywhere, with single use plastic found on local beaches and the deepest parts of the ocean.

Our seas are facing climate and biodiversity crises, partly fuelled by the single-use plastic problem. We've got to switch to using more sustainable products, and UK governments need to do more to bring in legislation that bans single-use plastic being produced.

Microplastics are bits of plastic less than 5mm in size. It’s estimated that 11 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean every year. Nearly a million tonnes of this goes into the sea as “primary microplastics”, meaning they’re already less than 5mm in size.

Marine life eat these tiny pieces of plastic, which build up internally and cause catastrophic damage.

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Restoring ocean health

Our ocean is in crisis. We’re determined to tackle this growing emergency by working with communities, businesses and governments to turn the tide on ocean pollution and restore ocean health.

Who we are

The facts about pollution

The threats to our ocean' health

How you can help