Marine Contamination and Pollution Essay

Over the years many animals have been affected by the trash in the ocean. The trash can affect the animals by making animals eat and pick up plastic, by trapping animals in a net, and by cutting their wounds. The trash is causing animals to die, mainly from the plastic objects and from getting cut by trash or by getting stuck in the trash. Some animals mistake plastic for food. When the animals eat the plastic their organs can get ruptured. In addition to that, animals mistake plastic for food because the plastic smells like krill (a small fish that is found in the ocean, and a fish that is eaten by some animals). Another reason why animals die is because of ghost gear. Ghost gear is what people call fishing supplies that were thrown into

The oil spills are being caused by the one who spill it should be responsible and the only one who makes oil is companies are the ones who makes oil so they should pay for the damage beside the earth is already been damaged by us so I think people should help the earth beside humans are the ones who needs earth.The companies who spill oil into oceans should pay for clean up. The earth is being damage already and humans are the ones who need the earth not the earth needs the humans because of the gravity and the professor says that if you dump anything down the toilet then it will go to the oceans by the sewage and the sewers has bad toxic waste in it. The companies who spill oil into oceans should pay for clean up. have three reasons why

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

Earth's oceans are dying. “About 80% of the ocean around the world is polluted with chemicals industrial and residential waste, all of which comes from the land” (“Marine Problems…”).  Pollution is mainly coming from the people. Marine pollution should be stopped because it is the cause of many problems and if something is done about it, people will see an increase in sea life and healthier waters. It makes its way into the ocean and kills marine life. Ocean pollution is affecting the way of fisherman and their everyday lives. It is also very bad on the community because pollution is very bad on tourism. Ocean pollution should be stopped because it is poorly affecting marine life, it is not good for fishermen, and is very bad on tourism.

Sea life can mistake plastic, inedible, objects for food. Sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jelly fish, which is one of their favorite foods, and quickly die (Geographic). Resin pellets, which are used to make just about anything plastic, are often mistaken for food, especially due to the resemblance with fish eggs. Ingesting hard plastics can easily become lodged in an animal’s intestines or stomach and cause a slow and painful death. These marine animals do not know better than to eat what looks like food, it is not their responsibility to avoid the garbage.

Marine pollution is not a new phenomenon, but our acknowledgement of its impacts and severity is relatively new, with the first laws and discussions to counter it only appearing in the 1950’s. For much of history, it was thought that the oceans were so large that any pollution created would be negligible and easily diluted (Marine Pollution). Since, countless research and laws have been implemented in order to preserve our marine ecosystems because of how crucial these ecosystems are to humanity.

In the article, "Plastic in Our Oceans", Kimberly Amaral discusses the everyday uses of plastic and how it can be beneficial to humans, but harmful to marine life. As fishermen casually dump waste overboard, animals mistake it for food sources, such as a turtle mistaking a plastic grocery bag for a jellyfish. From the trash brought out to sea, gyres, large circulations of water, carry the garbage through currents, spreading it to all over the ocean, specifically to the central gyre. Amaral notes common ways for marine life to die from plastic, which include entanglement by plastic rings, consumption of plastic bags and pellets which stuff the intestines and lead to health problems, and suffocation. As researchers today work hard to discover

Everything in this world we use comes from the ocean in some way. The air we breathe, the water we drink, even the products we use day to day, would not be possible without the ocean. That's why the issue of ocean pollution is so important and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. We depend on the ocean for so much in our life, without it we would surely become extinct. People seem to think that since the ocean is so large and vast, we can dump as much waste as we'd like into it and it will never have an effect on us. However, since we've been polluting the ocean as far back as Roman times, the evidence of ocean pollution becoming a major problem is all too clear.

In the documentary “Inside the Garbage of the World”, the main social problem being explained is that there has been a great influx of plastic and other type of garbage in oceans and their beaches. This buildup of pollution has largely affected the wildlife population ranging from animals on the beaches to the creatures of the ocean. In oceans, what is called ‘garbage patches’, a large buildup of garbage that flow to one area in the oceans, are being created. Approximately 50 percent of all plastic sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor but about 2 times that much is actually already on the ocean floor. In fact, according to the documentary, there is a garbage patch that is to the left of California that is the size of half of the United States. Each year, about 4.7 million tons of plastic goes in the ocean a year and it is estimated that by 2050, there will be another 33 billion tons of plastic added to the present amount. Eighty percent of the current pollution comes from the land. According to marine researchers, twice as much plastic debris is one the ocean floor than it was 10 years ago. In the futures, plastic will break down into smaller pieces of plastic, creating a bigger problem from the habitat. This plastic pollution is one of the leading cause for beach and ocean inhabiting creatures be extinct because animals are mistaking these plastic pieces for food. When scientist began to dissect beach animals such as birds, they discovered that at least fifteen pounds of

Imagine waking up with a brown fog in the air and your unnatural tasting drinking water is the only water you have. If ocean pollution continues, also known as marine pollution, continues this could become an everyday reality. This form of pollution is caused by dumping waste in the ocean, toxic chemicals, oil spills and a variety of other ways. Marine pollution is deadly for various reasons and has many negative affects, including its effect on human’s food supply, hurting our marine animals, and ruining our oceans quality. Every human, plant, and all living creatures depend on these bodies of water for air, water, food and many more. “The oceans are an important part of the

Chemical pollutants, such as petroleum, are known to weaken their immune system (Why Endangered, ¶4). This not only affects the turtles directly but also their food source and a new disease called fibropapillomas may be linked to ocean pollution . People assume that the chemicals that go in the ocean will not have a big effect but in reality the concentration of the chemical gets greater and greater as energy and nutrients move up the food chain (Information About Threats, ¶14). More than 100 million different types of marine animals are killed each year from plastic in the ocean. Over 80% of the plastics that find their way into the ocean come from storm drains, beach streets and wind blowing pieces from landfills. Some of the dangerous plastics are so small that they are invisible to the naked eye. An example is the leather backs who eat jellyfish as the main part of their diet closely resemble plastic bags, balloons, bottles, degraded buoys, plastic packaging, and food wrappers that they cannot distinguish between and end up eating. (Information About Threats, ¶7). The effects of marine debris are unknown but include discarded/lost fishing gear, steel and monofilament line, synthetic and natural rope,plastic onion stacks, and discarded plastic netting.

The oceans face many types of pollution every day, every second. The ocean is our greatest ecosystem and out most valuable resource. A common misconception is that the rainforests are the lungs of the planet however, the majority of our oxygen is made via the algae in the sea. The oceans feeds, hydrates, and provides us with oxygen; ironically enough, despite its monetary value to mankind, it is what is treated the worst. For ages we have been dumping our trash, chemicals, and waste into the oceans with no fear or regret, almost an “out of sight- out of mind” mentality. People once and still assume that the oceans are so vast that all of the pollution is diluted and would be dispersed through out, going unnoticed. However, dilution is a myth and an idea that renders ocean dumping to be less impactful. Even so much of the man made pollution is becoming even more concentrated and have entered our natural food chain. However vast the waters of the ocean are, they are not meant to house all of these external factors. There are many alternatives to marine pollution including recycling, finding alternative trash dump sites, cutting down on harmful chemicals for agriculture, and most importantly having the ability to recognize when a problem is developing and counter act, immediately.

Pollution particularly in the form of anthropogenic debris is becoming increasingly important within the marine environment. Marine debris has been defined by Santos et al (2009) as ‘any manufactured or processes solid waste material that enters the marine environment from any source’. Marine debris is a recognizable sign of the impact human activities have upon the coastal environment (Taffs & Cullen, 2005). Marine debris is recognised as a significant pollution issue that has a range of environmental consequences. Marine debris is a global issue with impacts on marine organisms such as entanglement, ingestion and smothering, ecological and biological processes, aesthetics and local, regional and worldwide economies (Smith & Markic, 2013). Debris

Due to their regurgitation ability; most studies have focused on the ingestion of plastic pollution by bird, this does little harm to birds used in the studies. The effects of ingestible plastic on fish have not been studied as thoroughly and no studies have been conducted on filter-feeding organisms, which do not possess a feeding mechanism which would allow them to distinguish between plastic and plankton. Plastic pollution is only getting worse due to increasing population of developing countries. A wide variety of marine species is known to be harmed by plastic debris. This could threaten the survival of certain species, especially since many are sadly endangered by other types of anthropogenic actions.

Many areas have even gone beyond contamination with saliva and feces, to dangerous chemical contamination, often resulting in bodies of water such as rivers having dead fish and other organisms floating around in large amounts. Chemical pollution often involves large amounts of metal solvents, agricultural pesticides, simple carbon dioxide (which can also cause grief and large amounts of death in marine organism populations) and petroleum, all because of industrial reasons. Sometimes, humongous amounts of inanimate man made objects also become deadly pollutants, such as plastic bags, sometimes taking up as much as 700,000 square kilometers, the size of Texas. These locations can trap even more marine organisms, causing shifts in balance of the marine ecosystems and food webs, often causing chain reactions which shatter the underwater world. These ecosystems need to be preserved with perseverance for the next generation.