Plastic pollution is choking the planet, especially the seas and oceans. Ambitious international announcements for substantial measures to tackle it are unfortunately only communicative, without implementation, while plastic is increasingly overwhelming our daily lives. One thing is certain: this irreversible situation we have created is leading us to a new global crisis of plastic pollution affecting all levels: water, air, food and inevitably entering the food chains and tissues of all organisms.

Joint research on the impacts of plastic and microplastic pollution in the seas was the subject of recent working meetings of the Archipelagos Institute in India, at Andhra University and Kerala University, as part of the ECOMARINE action, in collaboration with the University of Cyprus and the University of Oviedo, Spain. A similar activity is being carried out in parallel in collaboration with the Universities of Terengganu and Kebangsaan in Malaysia.

After 4 years of collaboration, we now share common research protocols and common research equipment to monitor in parallel the extent of plastic pollution in the Indian Ocean, South China Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.