corals waste a lot of time and energy handling the plastic particles. Unfortunately, even remote reef systems suffer the effects of marine debris, especially if it is plastic pollution. Reefs in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are particularly prone to the accumulation of marine debris because of their central location in the North Pacific Gyre. Fortunately, there are solutions to protect corals and coral reefs against the harmful effects of plastic pollution. However, since little to no research exists regarding specific medicinal ways to help corals recover from plastic exposure, the best solution is to not let plastics enter the marine environment at all. This can be accomplished through a number of ways, some of which are already being enacted. For example, there are measures to ban microplastics from products like cosmetics and toothpaste as well as measures that demand for products that contain microplastics to be labeled as such so as to reduce their consumption. Additionally, newer and better detection methods are needed for microplastics and they must be installed at waste water treatment facilities to prevent these particles from entering the marine environment and causing damage to marine life, especially coral reefs. Many people are realizing the problem of plastic pollution and other marine debris though, and have taken steps to mitigate it. For example, from 2000 to 2006, NOAA and partners removed over 500 tons of marine debris from the reefs in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Cigarette butts also damage aquatic life. In order to avoid cigarette butt litter, some solutions have been proposed, including possibly banning cigarette filters and implementing a deposit system for e-cigarette pods. Dredging Dredging operations are sometimes completed by cutting a path through a coral reef, directly destroying the reef structure and killing any organisms that live on it. Operations that directly destroy coral are often intended to deepen or otherwise enlarge shipping channels or canals, due to the fact that in many areas, removal of coral requires a permit, making it more cost-effective and simple to avoid coral reefs if possible. Dredging also releases plumes of suspended sediment, which can settle on coral reefs, damaging them by starving them of food and sunlight. Continued exposure to dredging spoil has been shown to increase rates of diseases such as white syndrome, bleaching and sediment necrosis among others. A study conducted in the Montebello and Barrow Islands showed that the number of coral colonies