In neighboring Louisiana, it's even worse, with trash drifting down the Mississippi River from inland areas only to join inbound garbage tumbling ashore on nearly every breaking wave. Garbage, whatever its form, is always ugly, but some of it is also dangerous. Most of it promises to last for centuries as a continuing threat to the environment. Aluminum beverage cans tossed into the water usually sink to the bottom, where they function as efficient traps for small fish, shellfish, and other creatures. They're also likely to last for at least a couple of centuries.
Plastic poses one of the greatest and longlasting threats to wildlife.
Nylon gillnet lost at sea keeps right on fishing, and it also entangles sea birds and mammals. A snarl of monofilament line discarded by a careless angler can become a deathtrap for birds and mammals. Plastic six-pack yokes, more efficient than a hangman's noose, have strangled countless fish, birds, and sea mammals. The plastics threat has reached crisis proportions around the world and doesn't promise to soon subside. Ever-increasing plastics production and application can only compound the problem.