# @wmnf885 on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DUrLIqvkYq_
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70139927-wmnf885-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/f995c80100.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-02-12T22:27:19.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** WMNF Community Radio (@wmnf885) — https://gondola.cc/wmnf885

## Caption

🌊 Plastic pollution is taking a serious toll on Florida’s marine life.

Just a baseball-sized piece of plastic can kill an adult Florida manatee, and other marine wildlife are at similar risk, according to a new report from the Ocean Conservancy. 

A leader from Ocean Conservancy  presented the findings at Apollo Beach Thursday. and called for action to control plastic use 

Ocean Conservancy’s Director of Florida Conservation, JP Brooker, discussed new data about the impact plastics are having on Florida’s marine life. 

According to the report, nearly 1 in 6 manatees had plastic in their digestive systems when they died, and 1 in 25 died from it.

“They could be killed by something that’s relatively, you know, insignificant to them. But it’s a testament to the amount of plastic that’s showing up in our waterways, and that it does accumulate in these animals.” JP Brooker said.

Brooker called out the state for preempting local governments from regulating single-use plastics, and called on lawmakers to address the plastic use at the state level. 

“There has been a backslide in protections on plastics in Florida, and we as the Ocean Conservancy, are working as hard as we can bring some of those protections back in to create new protections.” Brooker said.

He says the conservancy regularly sees plastic littering the beaches during their International Coastal Cleanup every year. 

“We’re talking about bottle caps, We’re talking about plastic bags, we’re talking about cigarette butts, which is actually plastic. And we think that the state of Florida is well equipped to address these plastic items.” Brooker said
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What changes do you think are needed to protect our oceans? Share your thoughts 👇
#WMNF #FloridaOceans #PlasticPollution #OceanConservancy #EnvironmentalNews

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## Tags

floridaoceans, oceanconservancy, plasticpollution, environmentalnews, wmnf

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