Sea Dumping Act 1981

Furthermore, the Shore Protection Act is applicable to the transportation of municipal and commercial waste in coastal waters aiming to minimize debris from being deposited into coastal waters from inadequate waste handling procedures by waste transporting vessels (Laws That Protect). The Center for Biodiversity had petitioned the EPA to begin regulating plastics as a pollutant under The Clean Water Act- a crucial first step in reducing the amount of plastic. The Clean Water Act is the nation's strongest law protecting water quality. Recognition of plastic pollution under the clean water act enables states to develop water-quality standards to finally begin curbing the amount of plastic dumped in the oceans.

Terrorism has been one of the major concerns of the entire world; however, the incident of 9/11 entirely changed the perception of governments towards the issue of terrorism. In this regard, the United States of America has significantly improvised its approach towards dealing with terrorism. The approach of the U.S. is also justifiable as the United States is the only country that had to face the maximum ramifications caused by terrorism as thousands of people have lost their lives in multiple terrorist acts. Moreover, the U.S. has also tolerated the loss of billions of dollars in the shape of loss of capital, and investing in improved military and intelligence services. Despite of all these efforts, the U.S. has always felt the threat of terrorist activities; based on this fact, the government and legislature of the United States of America has enacted many acts of Congress to ensure the security of the residents, capital, and assets of the country. Out of various strategies to make United States a safer country, the Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act in considered the most imperative yet debated topic among the politicians as well as the public of the U.S.

Conservation of our biodiversity not only demonstrates foresight, it protects the natural resources so vital to our own continued existence. The value of any single species to an ecosystem is immeasurable; the environment will not endure without its species, despite size or niche. These animals are not dispensable. And, they are apt to face extinction in the not too distant future, unless a resolve for their preservation is insisted by the public and enforced by governments internationally.

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.

The National Wildlife Institute has published “Conservation Under the Endangered Species Act: A Promise Broken”. Their critique of the Act includes questioning the programs undertaken as a result of the Act have played sufficient roles in the recovery of species that were delisted, as well as questioning the allocation of funding to programs intended to aid listed species.

Over a century ago the elephant seal population on Macquarie Island survived a period of severe over-harvesting. The practice of hunting seals for food, oil and skins had a high demand in the market and was largely carried out by Sydney based gangs (Bradshaw et al, 2003). During the early 1900’s Macquarie Island was declared a nature reserve and the hunting of seals came to a halt. After cessation of sealing, the population of the elephant seal increased but is still recovering. Over the years, a notable decline in the population has been

In the article, the author states, “The fastest decline among the animal populations were found in freshwater ecosystems, where numbers have plummeted by 75% since 1970” (Damian Carrington). The evidence suggests that the freshwater ecosystems have endured the most pollution compared to any other ecosystem. In other words, aquatic animals are the fastest dying group of animals, which shows how we are affecting the environment by our actions. The author also states, “Otters were near extinct in England, but thanks to conservation efforts, now live in every country” (Damian Carrington). This example suggests that a whole species had almost been killed off because of the pollution in freshwater ecosystems.

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

Significant unmitigated losses to wildlife and rare plants, including losses to species under the Species at Risk Act and to game and plant resources preferred by Aboriginal peoples.

The Jones Act prevents foreign-flagged ships from carrying cargo between the US mainland and noncontiguous parts of the US, such as Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam.

In the last few decades, various marine species of Antarctic ecosystem have been brought close to extinction because of human activities in various forms such as pollution from sewage and other contaminants, overfishing and other mixed activities and

The introduction of foreign or “invasive” species into ecosystems places a massive risk of exposing the inhabitants of this environment to mass extinction, far lower rates of biodiversity and potentially irreversible, permanent changes to the biological makeup of the food web. The ethical problem involved with this serious situation is whether the culling or “selective slaughter” of these invasive species is ethical, if, in doing so will inflict pain and suffering. To come to the morally permissible answer to this dilemma one needs to come to a conclusion of the legitimacy of animal’s pain and suffering and thus how heavily it plays a role in coming to an ethically strong conclusion. Through the exploration of the specific case of the introduction

There are 1,625 species of fish, 1,400 coral reef species, more than 3,000 species of molluscs (shells), 630 species of echinoderm (starfish, sea urchins), 14 breeding species of sea snakes, 215 species of birds including 22 species of seabirds and 32 species of shorebirds, six of the world's seven species of marine turtle, more than 30 species of marine mammals, including the dugong (which looks like a manatee), 133 species of sharks and rays, and much more. These animals are in danger because of the dumping of waste from port expansions and the dredging, cleaning out the bed of an area of water by scooping up debris, that is close to the Great Barrier Reef.

In Newcastle Port Corp v MS Magdalene the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales (LEC) heard the prosecution of the MS Magdalene for the discharge of 72,000 litres of oil into the Hunter River. While the Marine Pollution Act (NSW) (the MPA) determines that it is strict liability offence for any vessel owner and/or master to discharge oil or an “oily mixture” into State waters (with maximum fines of $10 million for a body corporate and $500,000 for a natural person), Sheahan J make some significant reductions to the fine in this case for the Defendants’ actions both preceding and following the event. The case highlights the importance of clear, established procedures for inspections and maintenance to avoid a marine pollution incident, and the importance of quick and accountable reactions post incident.

Although the ocean covers approximately two thirds of the Earth’s surface, it is surprisingly susceptible to human influences. The effects of rubbish dumping have tainted our oceans and they have taken their toll on the vast marine environments and the populations in which they contain. Rubbish dumping involves depositing all the waste materials from factories and industries, tankers and ships and sewerage waste materials into the oceans and seas. In the report “Causes and Effects of Ocean Dumping”, the author Sharda states that “The wastes that are dumped into the oceans tend to have toxic substances which soak in all the oceanic oxygen. This