Continent of Plastic

Plastic in the Pacific, a short documentary from KQED Quest, explores how some highly proactive groups are taking steps to clean up the massive plastic cesspool called the North Pacific Gyre, aka the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  One suggestion is to burn it, thus creating a hardened plastic landmass.  (The Vice people also went there and produced a piece called Garbage Island.)

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area and are interested in coastal conservation opportunities, you may watch to check out the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association website (I've heard excellent things about their Beach Watch program). 

Also, if you want to learn about overfishing, check out the documentary End of the Line - A World Without Fish.  Here's the trailer:

Lastly, Dr. Callum Roberts, author of The Unnatural History of the Sea, provides a general depiction of marine degredation in this episode of Micho Kaku's radio show Exploration.