Via Data Driven Journalism – “To date, Dive Against Debris surveys have been conducted in over 50 countries, with the top reporting countries being the United States, Thailand and Greece. As more divers get involved with Dive Against Debris, Project AWARE continues to bring visibility to the problem of marine debris and helps to identify target areas for waste prevention efforts. Data and the map – Since 2011, divers have conducted 1772 surveys, reporting and removing 542,340 pieces of debris. The majority of this is plastic, with 344,796 pieces collected. The weight of these items combined is equal to that of over 3000 people. The items themselves are very diverse, “from the weird and whacky items like a pogo stick or set of false teeth to the usual suspects – plastic bags, drinks bottles and aluminum cans”. As Pragnell-Raasch said in her interview, “with 150 million metric tons of mismanaged plastic conservatively estimated to make its way into the ocean by 2025, it sadly comes as no surprise that plastic items are consistently the top items reported – accounting for almost 70% of all debris items reported to date.”