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Ocean
Pollution, Ocean Garbage and Marine Debris
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Marine pollution
can start as far away as middle-America. Any toxic
materials that are put into rivers and bodies of
water can flow eventually to the oceans. Run-off
from drains and areas adjacent to the ocean is also
a severe problem, bringing all kinds of materials
into the sea. Toxic pollutants in the ocean have
considerable impacts on plants and animals. Heavy
metal poisoning from elements such as lead and mercury
caused by industry builds up in the tissues of top
predators such as whales and sharks, causing birth
defects and nervous system damage. Dioxins from pulp
and paper mills, and poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's)
from oil pollution and burning wood and coal cause
cause genetic problems in marine animals. Polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCB’s) from electrical equipment can cause
birth problems in most marine organisms. Sewage can
cause massive nutrient loading in the oceans, which
leads to algal blooms, effectively decreasing the
amount of dissolved oxygen in the water and many
organisms die from lack of oxygen. Sewage also introduces
parasites and bacteria, which can cause beach and
shellfish harvesting closures. Garbage has always
been discarded into the ocean, but since the 1940s,
plastic use has increased dramatically, resulting
in a huge quantity of nearly indestructible, lightweight
material floating in the oceans and eventually deposited
on beaches worldwide. Marine garbage includes fishing
nets, plastics, party balloons, beach toys, general
household garbage. Animals eat this garbage and it
strangles them or blocks their digestive system causing
starvation. Entanglement can also constrict growth
and circulation, causing eventual slow death, or
trap marine animals within large debris, leading
to drowning, starvation or attack by predators. Even
if just attached, it slows the animals’ ability to
move through the water, and animals starve due to
their inability to catch prey. Pollution can be reduced
a number of ways. Many communities have beach-clean-up
days. Recycling reduces the amount of trash that
is available to go into the ocean. Care should be
taken to make sure that oil from cars, suds from
washing, and other pollutants do not go down your
storm drain. Any landscaping should be protected
until it is stable so that silt does not get washed
into rivers and streams. Party balloons should be
popped and never released into the air. Always pick
up your trash when you leave the beach.
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Picture of Hawaiian
spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris,
playing with plastic grocery bag, Kona, Hawaii, Pacific
Ocean
Picture #: 012260 |
Image of green sea turtle,
Chelonia mydas, entangled in ghost fishing net, Cayman
Islands, Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean
Picture #: 008843 |
Stock photo of freckled
driftfish, Psenes cyanophrys, sheltering under abandoned
plastic gasoline tank in open ocean, off Kona coast,
Big Island, Hawaii, Pacific Ocean
Picture #: 002326 |
Photo of a whitetip
reef shark, Triaenodon obesus, killed in ghost fishing
net, Thailand, Pacific Ocean
Picture #: 001498 |
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Picture of humpback
whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, tangled in fishing
net, Newfoundland, Canada, North Atlantic
Picture #: 001977 |
Image of little blue
penguin or fairy penguin, Eudyptula
minor, cleaned
after being oiled, North Island, New Zealand, Pacific
Ocean
Picture #: 011100 |
Stock photo of young
male polar bear, Ursus maritimus, foraging in the
dump near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
Picture #: 011350 |
Photo of a manta ray,
Manta birostris, tangled in fishing line, Monad Shoal,
Philippines
Picture #: 001498 |
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Picture of
garbage and marine debris at South Point, Hawaii.
Marine debris from around the world washed up on
these beaches at South Point due to strong wind and
current, Big Island, Hawaii, Pacific Ocean
Picture #: 020014 |
Image of California
sea lions in gill net, Zalophus
californianus, Los
Coronados Islands, Baja California, Mexico, Pacific
Picture #: 011646 |
Stock photo of yellow
gobies, Lubricogobius exiguus, living in discarded
can, Osezaki, Izu Peninsula, Suruga Bay, Japan,
Pacific
Picture #: 011079 |
Photo of orcas or
killer whales, Orcinus orca, in front of oil refinery,
Whangarei, New Zealand, South Pacific
Picture #: 012278 |
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Picture of garbage bag
found floating in the open ocean. Shoreline fishermen
use garbage bags to haul their lines to deep water
off of South Point. The strong winds push the bag
with the fishing lines attached out far and they
are able to catch open water fish. This bag broke
loose and was drifting free, a hazard to marine life,
Kona, Big Island, Hawaii, Pacific
Picture #: 020449 |
Image of Morning Glory
Pool which has long been considered a must-see site
in Yellowstone. Over the years visitors threw coins,
bottles and trash in the pool, reducing its flow
and causing the red and orange bacteria to creep
in from its edge, replacing the blue bacteria that
thrive in the hotter water at the center of the pool.
Upper
Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming,
Wyoming
Picture #: 017563 |
Stock photo of juvenile
olive ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys
olivacea, tangled
in nylon rice bag. One flipper has been amputated
by the bag.
Picture #: 009302 |
Photo of party balloons
floating in the ocean miles from shore. These may
be eaten by sea turtles and other marine animals
which can choke or starve due to impacted digestive
tracts. Azores Islands, Portugal, North Atlantic
Ocean
Picture #: 031983 |
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Picture of Dall's porpoise,
Phocoenoides dalli, in driftnet, Bering Sea, North
Pacific Ocean
Picture #: 010656 |
Image of a kelp bass, Paralabrax
clathratus, killed by an inshore gill
net, Mexico, Pacific Ocean
Picture #: 016723 |
Stock photo of oil rig,
Channel Island National Park, California, Pacific
Picture #: 019980 |
Photo of olive ridley
sea turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea, tangled in fishing
net, East Pacific Ocean
Picture #: 009309 |
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