Edgardo Ochoa is the marine and diving safety officer at Conservation International.

Throughout my career, I have been on more than 5,000 dives, logging countless hours underwater and marveling at the wealth of biodiversity at each site that I visit.

Whether I am visiting Cocos Island in Costa Rica or the island of Ouvéa in New Caledonia, for me, nothing compares to the feeling of plunging into crystal-clear waters on a dive and witnessing mosaics of colorful coral, spotting small crabs poking their heads out from the sand and even catching a rare glimpse of a tiger shark.

Unfortunately, there is only one thing I can expect to see on every expedition: plastic.

Recent studies show that plastic has invaded every corner of the Earth, from glaciers in the Arctic to the sands of the Sahara .…