The agency added that a lack of sunshine had also failed to improve the situation as the sun's UV rays would usually kill some of the bacteria found in the sea.

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The story, set in Lisbon, concerns Eloi (Henrique Canto e Castro), a paunchy middle-aged man, who finds Samuel (Dinis Neto Jorge), a young sad sack, about to kill himself by plunging into the sea.

NEWYORKER: The Last Dive

The effort, called a "top kill, " involved plugging the ruptured deep-sea well by pumping heavy drilling fluid into it from the surface, nearly a mile above.

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Environment California estimate that plastic bags kill up to one million sea creatures every year, and the British Antarctic Survey have found them floating far north of the Arctic Circle, and as far south as the Falkland Islands.

CNN: Fighting the tide of plastic bags in a world awash with waste