How The Pollutants Affect Communities Living Along The Strait

It is their home, their thriving place. According to the National WIldlife Federation, ¨The Bay supports 3,600 species of plant and animal life, including more than 300 fish species and 2,700 plant types.”. Not only does the wildlife depend on the bay, but humans do as well. The Chesapeake Bay contains a 64,000-square-mile watershed, this watershed provides large amounts of drinking water for us in Maryland, along with several other states. Everyday, the condition of the water declines, meaning the home for wildlife and our drinking water does too. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation pointed out that, ¨Toxic chemicals are constantly entering the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams via wastewater, agriculture, stormwater, and air pollution. These harmful chemicals, such as mercury, PCBs, and PAHs, do not break down easily and persist in the environment for many years, impacting not just fish and birds, but humans as well.¨. How important does the restoration of the bay sound

Outbreaks of paralytic shellfish poisoning in humans may occur in epidemic extents after the consumption of mussels, clams, scallops or shellfish. This occurs because the relation to previous sporadic and unpredictable blooms of toxic protista passing their toxin via the food web to marine filter feeders, such as mollusks where the toxin accumulates in high concentrations in the digestive gland, hepatopancreas without harming the vector animal. A natural source caused many incidents where the problem was paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), and these victims had to be rushed to a medical facility. The most frequently reported foodborne disease of chemical nature in the United States is PSP. It just so happens that most of the cases are from southeastern Florida and Hawaii.

The problem with plastic ending up in the ocean is that marine life is being harmed by the presence of it. A study done on the harbor seals in the Netherlands found that more than 12% had plastic in the digestive system (California Coastal Commission). The list of affected species indicates that marine debris is affecting a significant number of species. It affects at least 267 species worldwide, including 86% of all sea turtle species, 44% of all seabird species, and 43% of all marine mammal species (Save our shores). The problem is underestimated because the marine life that ingests plastic or dies from entanglement often goes undiscovered due to the vastness of the ocean, as they either sink or are eaten by predators before they are discovered (Plastic Debris). The potential harm from ingestion of plastics is not restricted to seabirds. Plastic bags drifting on ocean currents resemble the prey of turtles. There is evidence that their survival is being hindered by plastic debris with young sea turtles being vulnerable (Ocean pollution). Over the past 20 years polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have polluted marine food webs at an increasing rate, and are prevalent in seabirds. Though their adverse effects may not always be apparent, PCBs lead to reproductive disorders, increase the risk of disease and alter hormone levels. These chemicals have a detrimental effect on marine organisms even at very low levels and plastic pellets could be a route for PCBs into marine food

Chemicals harm the growth of plants and animals, chemicals can lead animals to death. Many of the water animals

Between 1947-1977 General Electric (GE) dumped 1.3 million pounds of PCBs in the river polluting it and making it hazardous. Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are used as an insulator and a fire preventer. They also can cause illnesses, such as cancer. If the fish take in the PCBs and then we eat the fish, we can get sick.

The goal of this program was to reduce the level of nitrogen and phosphorous flowing to the Bay by 40% by the year 2000, from their 1985 levels (Blankenship 2). The first step in this program was to reduce the amount of nutrient pollution from point sources (end-of-the-pipe) such as wastewater treatment facilities that feed into the many tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay (The Chesapeake Bay Watershed 1). However, the results of these cleanup efforts were not enough to reach the goal of the program. Therefore, the areas involved now had to target the non-point sources of nitrogen and phosphorous. The non-point sources are storm water run off from agricultural and developed sites, air pollution, and the development of sensitive forests that act as buffers for tributaries and the Bay (1). The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act of 1989 took aim at these sources in Tidewater Virginia by requiring resource management practices in the use and development of environmentally sensitive land (1). The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Ordinance of 1991 also took aim at these non-point sources by designating environmentally sensitive areas in Virginia Beach as Resource Protection Areas and Resource Management Areas which are intended to protect the integrity of the lands that effect the Chesapeake Bay (2). The States involved also

Moreton Bay and Tangalooma is the third largest local government in Australia by population. It covers more then 2000 square kilometres and serving nearly 400,000 residents. The council has more then $4.4 billion worth of assets under management. On March 11th 2009, a container ship in the Pacific Ocean lost over 31 containers overboard, it had leaked approximately 270 tonnes of oil 11km off east of Moreton Bay. Their wasn’t many wildlife that was effect from this oil leak. The animals that were effected was treated, cleaned and then released. In Moreton Bay and Tangalooma over 200 turtles are being reported dead, sick or injured. The debris and plastics in the ocean doesn’t just effect the marine life but it also effects human health. Turtles can be very weak due to their downward facing spines, which causes them to swallow their food easy but cannot bring it back up, which paralyses the turtles gut from digesting their food. Most of the pollution that enter the waterways of Tangalooma and Moreton Bay are being flushed into the Bay’s, which is actually impacting the water quality and health of Moreton Bay and Tangalooma. By more and more pollution entering the water ways of the bay’s it can increase the cause the turbidity, nutrients and algal blooms, which can cause the loss of seagrass and a loss of food sources for the turtles and other marine

According to the United State Environmental Protection Agency, entitled Addressing Nutrient Pollution in the Chesapeake Bay:

Undoubtedly, the most egregious offender to the overall environmental health and stability of Benicia's waterways is the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, otherwise known as the “mothballed” fleet. This collection of decrepit, rusting vessels has been plaguing the beautiful waters of our Bay Area delta for more than sixty years. Ever since these ships were decommissioned at the end of World War II, they been left stagnant in our backyard, resulting in numerous environmental concerns. For example, various heavy metals such as lead and anti-fouling agents pollute our waters when paint peels off the ships' hulls, thus exposing the natural wildlife to dangerous compounds. Additionally, polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and other hazardous substances have been released, which can cause rashes if eaten by humans and liver damage or even death if consumed by animals. Thankfully, recent efforts have been made to better maintain the fleet and protect our native species, and the entire reserve is scheduled to be sold or scrapped by February 2017.

Often, toxic substances are being drained into the air, waterways, and undergrounds wells. According to the report by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over 60 million pounds of deadly chemicals are produced by industries in Florida. Notably, Florida’s water has been suffering mercury contamination until the state’s department of migration issues a circular regularly for regulations of eating freshwater fish in the region (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). In fact, such metals emanate from coal combustion’s emissions which run into water bodies. Not to mention, pesticides and herbicides utilized by government and homeowners pollute the environment (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). Indeed, all chemicals released into the atmosphere find themselves in rivers.

Ocean Conservancy is a non profit organization that works to reduce the ocean pollution and ultimately protecting the ocean along with every life that is affected by the ocean. The Ocean Conservancy was founded in 1972, which started as a small company but has since expanded and evolved to not only fight for the ocean but to educate people about harmful effects of pollution within the ocean. In my research I found that the explosion BP's Deepwater Horizon rig in 2010, was a peak for the Ocean Conservancy in media exposure and coverage and since then has steadily decreased. In this decline the perception of the Ocean Conservancy has become something synonymous with hopelessness.

In the past, industry was a huge source of pollution in the Bay, along with sewage treatment plants. After regulations were put in place to correct these pollution point sources, local governments were required to establish and implement plans for improving the pollution from non-point sources and their impact on the TMDL. After years of committing to specific deadlines for a 40 percent reduction in nutrient pollution and missing those deadlines without consequences, the EPA took another approach, a mandatory pollution diet for the Bay that would include penalties for not progressing sufficiently. The “three recurring problems in the nonpoint source pollution regulatory framework deal with the voluntary participation, scientific and

In Canada, the Grand Banks habitat is in “environmental degradation” (Connor and Taitano) due to bottom trawlers tearing up the sea floor displacing and destroying the vegetation at the seafloor and therefore disrupting the habitat of the small fish the cod prey upon (Connor and Taitano). Bottom trawls also disrupt the “breeding patterns of the cod.. Damaging fertilized eggs.. And greatly reducing the amount of young born” (Connor and Taitano). In the United States, the Gulf of Maine provides evidence of a loss of the young and old cod due to predation (Connor). Farming atlantic cod, like many fisheries are doing to replenish the atlantic salmon populations, have resulted in a breakout of the disease Yersiniosis (Connor and Taitano).The disease affects the fish’s intestinal tract before spreading throughout its body. The mortality rate with this disease is low, about 5%, however the illness prevents the affected cod from being sold at a market due to health violations (Connor and

Majestic animals that live in the ocean are rapidly dying and subsequently washing up on numerous shorelines that touch the Pacific Ocean’s waters. Disposal of a variety of toxins and damaging waste finding a path into our oceans are to blame for the deaths, which are largely preventable. Sharks, sea turtles, whales, dolphins and birds are just fraction of the marine life that are suffering because they are becoming sick or are dying of starvation. Their food sources are diminishing or disappearing as the cycle of destruction continues on down to the tiny, minute plankton that are the core of the food chain in the ocean. Contamination is causing the sudden increase of marine life deaths in the Pacific Ocean. The most recent reports of dead sea animals found washed up on shorelines don’t state scientific evidence of the cause of the mysterious deaths.

PCB’s (polychlorinated biphenyls) and dioxins have been in focus recently as there are concerns that the different structures are appearing to mimic the effects of female oestrogenic hormones. (Gray 1996) These chemicals can cause genetic chromosomal problems and major concerns to the reproductive effectiveness of marine animals. Oil spills and the burning of wood and coal can cause poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which has a negative effect on all wildlife causing genetic abnormalities. (EMCBTAP-ENVIS Newsletter 2002).