Oceans are polluted by oil daily from oil spills, routine sea shipping, runoffs, and dumping oil straight into the ocean. An oil spill is the discharge of petroleum into habitats by vehicles, vessel or pipelines. It occurs extensively and it mostly takes place in water bodies. It happens due to human carelessness. Spilled oil can harm marine animals because its chemical components are poisonous.
Negative Effects of Ocean Pollution “Each day, oil used to lubricate engines and to power the vessel leaks into the ocean” (Wroble 44). When the residue enters the ocean, it begins to affect the environment and animals. This is just one of the many problems from ocean pollution. “According to Worldwatch research associate Peter Weber, 80 to 90 percent of all of the materials dumped at sea are dredgings...dredgings are rich in toxic chemicals...from nonpoint sources” (Wroble 49). One particular chemical that affects the oceans are Polychlorinated Biphenyls, or PCBs.
The consumption of these plastics can affect the entire food chain, poisoning the jellyfish who eat them, the fish who prey upon them, their prey, and so on. For example, the Midway Atoll, an atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, receives 20 tons of the Patch’s trash annually, and because of this the majority of the Albatross sea birds that inhabit the atoll have plastic in their digestive system, which causes around ⅓ of their chicks to die,
This tells us that the main cause of plastic waste in the ocean is the inability of common people to dispose of their waste properly. Also, sewage or polluting substances that go to the ocean from rivers and different bodies of water are contributing factors. Plastics even have chemical nutrients that go to the ocean’s ecosystem. The chemical nutrients reduce the oxygen level of the ocean that affects plants, animals and ocean life. Waste is thrown directly into the ocean causing a huge
When you think of pollution the first thing that probably does not come to your mind is ocean pollution and how us humans are contributing to it. The dumping of plastics or other garbage is one of the biggest sources of pollution, and hurt our marine animals more than anything else. The spilling of oil from tankers and offshore rigs is another source of sea pollution that is hurting our marine animals. Noise pollution, like traffic, loud sounds from sonar devices and oil rigs also is affecting our marine animals. Sadly all these things contribute to decreases in marine life and affect the everyday marine life in a negative way.
From the sociological perspective, it was a huge social, cultural, economic and psychological threat for the communities living across the coastlines, cleanup workers, and especially children. Firstly, oil was released into the sea; it spread out on the surface of the water and contaminated the sea and coastlines. Statistics had shown that the Gulf oil spill killed 3,902 birds, 517 turtles, 71 marine mammals and more than thousands of other wildlife animals under the sea are covered by oil during or after the disaster (Merchant, 2010). Besides, the contaminated
Many marine mammals mistake these for food (Greer, Abigail). Plastic kills fish, birds, marine mammals, sea turtles, destroys habitats, and affects animal mating rituals, which can result in devastating results, such as wiping out an entire species (“How Ocean Pollution Impacts Marine Life-and All of
How the oceans may die is crucial to understand in order for them to be preserved for the survival of the planet. Numerous human activities generate a staggering amount of grave complications for the oceans and its crucial marine life. One of the most direct human activities that causes rapid decline in marine populations is overfishing. Some of the species
Every year, nine billion tons of trash and waste are being dumped into the ocean. Some of this trash stays in the oceans for years, while other trash ends up on our beaches. On beaches, the majority of littered trash is made up of cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bottles, and plastic bags. The turtles living in and around our Destin waters mistake these plastic items for food and attempt to eat it. These turtles then either choke and die or are stuck and die from starvation.
More animals are dying from pollution than ever before. Over the past years, the Earth has been a victim to land, air, and water pollution. Pollution has started taking over the Earth. These poor animals have started to confuse pollution for food. Animals in the ocean have died from the amount of pollution in the ocean.