Ocean Pollution, and How it Is Affecting

¶ … ocean pollution, and how it is affecting marine life. It will also look at what is being done to control pollution in the United States and around the world.

OCEAN POLLUTION AND ITS EFFECTS

There are numerous pollutants contaminating the world's oceans - they have been building up for hundreds of years, and they are both man-made and natural, although man-made pollutants are much more common than natural pollutants. Over 900,000 gallons of oil spills into the oceans every year, either from leaking tankers, oil spills, or leaks from oil dredging machinery. "In 1997, the 22 oil spills reported worldwide involved a total of 15 million gallons (57 million liters) of oil" ("Water Pollution").

Marine pollution by oil is also extremely harmful to anything the oil touches. It contaminates beaches, rocks, and of course, all the animals it touches. Oil adheres to poisons that are fat-soluble, such as DDT. This means when animals take in water contaminated by oil, the oil concentrates the poisons in the animal, and when another animal feeds on the contaminated animal, it moves the oil and concentrated poisons through the food chain, thereby contaminating more and more animals.

Even though chemicals such as DDT have been banned in the United States, they are still manufactured in other areas of the world, and often make their way into the oceans. As shown, these dangerous chemicals can concentrate in animals that have come in contact with oil spills, and can contaminate an entire food chain. They can also alter chromosomes in humans, so if humans ingest contaminated seafood, it can be extremely dangerous.

Scientists have discovered a number of ways to monitor and identify the problem of marine pollution. Of course, some forms of pollution are easy to detect, such as a massive oil spill. Others are not so simple. Our world is made up of thousands of chemicals, which get flushed down the drain every day. Despite stringent wastewater treatment regulations, many of these pollutants eventually make their way to the oceans of the world. "Industrial, agricultural, household cleaning, gardening, and automotive products regularly end up in water. About 65,000 chemicals are used commercially in the U.S. today, with about 1,000 new ones added each year. Only about 300 have been extensively tested for toxicity" (Fowler 15). Debris is also a major source of ocean pollution, from old fishing nets to human garbage to party balloons and medical waste, sooner or later it all ends up in our oceans, and it can do serious damage to marine populations. Whales have been found with balloons blocking their digestive track, and numerous animals are caught in nets and drown each year. The oceans are not a dumping ground, and yet they have been used as one for so long, it is difficult for many to conceive the damage dumping can do.

Dredging is another form of pollution that affects bays, harbors, and ultimately the surrounding oceans. The draft of ships has changed drastically since the1800s, and because of that, most worldwide harbors have to be dredged on a regular basis to deepen them so larger ships can use them. This dredging unearths not only mud and bottom dwelling sea creatures, it also unearths toxins and waste that have been buried in the mud. These wastes are churned up and spread throughout the harbor, or they are dumped along with the dredged materials in landfill or further out in the ocean. The contaminants contained in the dredged materials are often numerous and deadly, such as industrial wastes, plastics, and a variety of chemicals. The Clean Water Act also contains regulations on the testing and safe disposal of these dredged wastes (Editors).

Pollutants in ocean water can do more than muddy the water; they kill millions of marine animals every year, from vital phytoplankton, microscopic animals that feed thousands of other animals in the seas, to whales, dolphins, fish, sea birds, and shellfish. Chemicals kill many animals outright. Many others are killed when they ingest plastic garbage and other refuse that does not break down in their bodies. Others are killed by oil slicks and industrial wastes. All in all, marine pollution affects marine populations all over the world, and some face extinction because of it. To save the marine populations, strict pollution guidelines have been developed in some countries.

The Clean Water Act, first passed in the United States in 1972, was a major step forward in protecting the world's oceans. Since its' passage, the Act has been updated several times, the last in 1996. The Act contains measures regulating dredging, dumping, wastewater discharge, and more. While the Act has helped clean up the oceans, there is much more to be done.

People already feel the consequences as damaged marine systems stop delivering myriad "free" services. Islands wash away during storms. Formerly stable shorelines sink and erode. Tropical nations watch tourism and fisheries decline with the coral reefs that sustained them. The quality and quantity of seafood is diminishing, imperiling over one billion people who depend on it for their daily protein needs (Woodard 35).

Along with the Clean Air Act, many local communities are taking clean water into their own hands, enacting legislation to protect and limit pollutants in watersheds feeding into oceans.

In some regions, ocean life is damaged by pollution originating hundreds or thousands of miles from shore and delivered to the sea by rivers and streams. For these places, an integrated watershed management regime will probably be the only effective strategy. From a marine perspective, a watershed strategy should take steps to limit river-borne pollution and contaminants to levels acceptable to marine life (Woodard 233).

Local activists have also created programs to help endangered mangrove groves in Florida, endangered delta areas in Louisiana, and Gulf of Mexico pollution in states bordering the Gulf in the Southern U.S. Local "grassroots" programs are often extremely successful, because they recognize immediate local pollution problems, and offer specific results.

Many countries are also developing Marine Protection Areas. Some act as a kind of "wildlife sanctuary," protecting all the life in the area from any kind of fishing or commercial activity. Others are similar to National Parks, where some kinds of activity are allowed, but it is highly regulated and monitored.

Most are zoned for multiple uses, with different activities or types of fishing allowed in each area, but usually under an umbrella of strong legal protections against industrial activity such as pollution, seafloor mining, or offshore energy projects. Many extend onto the land to include mangroves, wetlands, or seabird nesting sites. Whatever the form, they provide vital ecological anchors for the surrounding ocean (Woodard 234).