Ocean Plastic Survey

Are you concerned about the amount of plastic waste ending up in our oceans? Get involved as a citizen scientist by using the Ocean Plastic Survey to help The Ocean Cleanup and the global community to better understand ocean plastic pollution. Developed by The Ocean Cleanup’s leading scientists, this app is simple to handle and, with the use of your smartphone, allows you to report to a global database of the floating plastic debris you encounter while sailing, travelling, or working on the ocean.
Why use the Ocean Plastic Survey? It is fun, it is easy to use, and it generates important global data for citizens, scientists, and decision makers to move forward in reducing ocean plastic pollution. By using the Ocean Plastic Survey you can join our mission to rid the world’s oceans of plastic and be part of the largest cleanup in history.
How to perform an Ocean Plastic Survey? Download the Ocean Plastic Survey app, charge your phone battery, and set out to the ocean aboard a safe vessel. Follow the on-screen instructions and when you are ready, you will record in real time the plastic items you identify on the water surface by tapping the categories on the survey screen.
Using Ocean Plastic Survey is rewarding:
• Contribute to a global understanding of ocean plastic pollution
• Get involved as a citizen scientist with The Ocean Cleanup by collecting important ocean plastic data
• Help The Ocean Cleanup improve offshore cleanup system deployments
• Use our defined categories to count waste items in real time on your screen
• View your reports in your survey list on the app
• View your results on our global citizen science map
Why do we need Ocean Plastic Surveys?
During the past 70 years of human history, over 8 billion tons of plastic have been produced. Today more than 400 million tons of plastics are produced every year worldwide. Estimations show that several million tons of plastic waste enter our oceans yearly. The understanding of waste types and quantitative fluxes is important to better inform interception and cleanup strategies. The data generated from this app (thanks to you) will allow scientists to refine numerical models simulating the terrestrial transport of plastic and better understand emissions. These results will directly impact the design and deployment strategy of The Ocean Cleanup’s offshore cleanup systems.
Become a part of the largest cleanup in history. As our global database grows, and if you are interested, we might invite you by email to take part in a special ocean survey campaign.

The Ocean Plastic Survey app only collects information pertinent to surveying oceans and collects your name and email address for identification and communication purposes.
The following data is collected and sent to our servers when you enter a profile:
• If you register with a name and email address, your name and email address will be stored on our servers.

The following data is stored on our surveying servers when surveying on the ocean:
• At the start of a survey, your location is requested. At that moment, your GPS coordinates are retrieved, with the highest accuracy possible, to determine where you are surveying. No further location tracking or positioning is done.
• Date and time of start and end of survey.
• Debris counts.
• A randomized string that identifies your account.