Article #8: Cleaning Up the Seas

Pollution has been a serious issue in our environment/society in recent years, affecting many species of animals and habitats both on land and in the ocean. It has been proven that there are over 70,000 substances used by industries that aid in the cause of pollution, and it is said that around 1,000 new chemicals get added to that list each year.  When it comes to marine life there are many pollutants that could cause a decrease in population of both species and habitats, one of those being oil spills.  It’s been estimated that about 25 million barrels of oil enter the ocean each year, causing many fatalities to marine animals.  One of the biggest threats to coastal regions is agricultural runoff of fertilizers, emissions from fossil fuel combustion, various land-use changes, and from the discharge of human and animal wastes.  These pollutants lead to an over-enrichment of certain nutrients in the ocean, one of the big ones being nitrogen. When coastal regions have an over-enrichment of one nutrient or have nutrient imbalances, this will cause the water to have less dissolved oxygen, resulting in higher mortality rates of marine species and decreased biodiversity. This increase in nutrient rich waters has also caused outbreaks in algae blooms and harmful species.  This is a potentially harmful/dangerous situation for both marine life and ourselves, higher marine mortality, human illness, and severe economic loss could result from these outbreaks.  Some of the marine mammals that have been associated with the toxic algae booms include the west Indian manatee, humpback whale, Hawaiian monk seal, and the brown pelican.  All of these marine mammals have had massive mortality rates when toxic algae had been present.

McKay, Bruce, and Kieran Mulvaney. "Cleaning up the Seas." SeaWeb. People & the Planet. 15 Apr. 2013 http://www.seaweb.org/resources/articles/writings/people.php.

I thought this article was interesting, it named numerous ways different pollutants affect the ocean and its inhabitants.  I never would have thought that there would be that many pollutants that we use and put out into the environment. 70,000 pollutants is a huge number and the thought that that number increases by 1,000 each year is insane.  Oil spills would probably be the pollutant that most people can associate with the ocean just because they are a huge concern and a big deal when they occur.  The oil spills also put out a physical and visible sign that the wildlife and the ocean are in trouble which in a way gets people to care more about the situation and may motivate them to jump in and help.  When these other pollutants come into play they don't necessarily show a visual sign that they are hurting marine life, making people care less about the situation.  I think most people need to visibly see the affects pollutants cause and in a  way it need to affect them in order for them to actually care about the situation.