Volunteers help get plastic trash off a sea lion in Alaska. (Photo courtesy of ADFG)

A biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is speaking in Petersburg Thursday about marine debris and marine mammals getting entangled.

Aleria Jensen is with NOAA fisheries in Juneau and will be talking about plastics in the Southeast waters and ways to make it better.

Sunny Rice with Petersburg’s Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program helped coordinate the presentation. She says Jensen has a lot of experience working in Southeast.

The talk is titled “Plastics and our Oceans: Identifying the Problem and Finding Solutions.” It starts at 7 p.m. in the borough assembly chambers in the municipal building downtown.

The presentation is the first event in a year-long project on marine debris in the Pacific Ocean and Southeast Alaska waters. It’s being funded through the Petersburg Community Foundation.