Seals and sea lions are very curious, and will often play with items floating in the water. Unfortunately, these synthetic (often plastic) materials can become stuck around their necks or bodies. Unlike us, they do not have hands to remove an item, so once around their neck, synthetic material is often there to stay. As they grow, if the synthetic material does not break, it can slowly strangle the animal, leading to severe injury and death. This is a preventable problem! We need to reduce our use of single-use plastics, and discard all plastics properly to ensure they do not end up in the ocean. We also need to find biodegradable alternatives to synthetic materials that persist for many years in the environment