Larger plastics entering the ocean have two possible fates: they can float on the surface or they can sink as a result of biofouling.

Macroplastics (5 mm) will inevitably break down and fragment into smaller plastics, posing a threat to marine life if they are not removed by clean-up operations through entanglement or ingestion. It may be possible to find out important information about sources, pathways, and trends by being able to find larger floating plastics in coastal waters before they get tangled, ingested, exported, and/or broken down. Computer technology is being used by scientists to identify and map marine plastic pollution. Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) is taking photographs of various waste types with a camera mounted on a boat. The different types of marine plastic have been identified and categorized by scientists using a machine learning computer. According to the report, plastic bottles or bags can be identified with 68% accuracy. According to PML, plastic waste is a significant contributor to the global pollution crisis, but monitoring it is difficult due to its size, complexity, and labor-intensive nature. The information the computer was gathering would eventually allow unmanned boats to be used to detect plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.

Global plastic pollution is a problem. At the end of the product lifecycle, this approach should act as a stepping stone for the use of satellites and drones to address the marine plastics problem. Thanks to artificial intelligence, we can now identify floating marine plastic patches. Environmental scientists might eventually use the method to manage and monitor ocean plastic waste more effectively.