Marine Pollution

For most of human history people relied on the“Dilution Philosophy”.

This is the mistaken notion that the oceans are sovast that no matter how much ‘stuff’ we dump intothem, and no matter what that ‘stuff’ might be, thesubstances will be so diluted that they will not causeany harm.

For most of human history, when populations weresmall and industrialization had not yet introducedmass-production, this idea seemed to work.

And of course since no one was looking for the harmcaused by pollution, none was found.

If there was a single turning point it may have beenin June of 1962 when Silent Spring was publishedin three parts in The New Yorker magazine. Thebook was released in September of the same year.

Silent Spring quicklybecame a NY Timesbest seller and wasthe first widely readaccount of damageto the environmentresulting from humanactivity.

Silent Spring documented the effects of the pesticideDDT on the brown pelican.Brown Pelican populations had been decreasing and no one knew why. Studies revealed that the birds were laying eggs withpaper-thin shells which broke as soon as a bird saton them.

Further investigationrevealed extremelyhigh levels of DDTin the birds them-selves.

It was easy to establish that DDT interfered withshell production, but what was less obvious was whythere were high levels of DDT in the birds whenocean water levels of the pesticide were extremely low.

The answer is bio-magnification, shownhere with an ospreyat the top of the foodchain. The sameprinciple applies topelicans or any animal,including humans, atthe top.

But how did the DDT get into the ocean?Agricultural runoff:

DDT was sprayed on cropsto kill pests and improvecrop yields.With every rain some ofthe chemical was washedinto the ground where itfound its way to streams,

and rivers and eventually to the sea.

Silent Spring was published in 1962. It took 10 yearsbut eventually the use of the pesticide was banned.The brown pelican and other fish-eating birds (ospreysand bald eagles) have made a remarkable comeback.

It is almost certain that there are small amounts of DDTin your body right now.How did it get there?DDT residues in the soil where the plants you eat aregrown.DDT in the feed of the animals you eat.

DDT in the ground water you drink.

DDT in fish which become fish meal which is added toanimal feed.But most important, one person can make an enormousdifference.

Thanks to Rachael Carson a great threat to theenvironment has been reversed.

Pollution of the marine environment comes in manyforms which have one thing in common: HARM tothe environment.Forms of ocean pollution include..............> Garbage dumping> Acidification

> Eutrophication

> Plastics including nurdles and microbeads

> Noise, aka sound pollution

> Silt and dust from farms, deserts, and construction

> Issues caused by deep sea mining

> Release of methane from clathrates

For almost all of human history garbage has beendumped into rivers or directly into the sea.Sometimes it was burned first. Sometimes the rawgarbage was dumped. New York City provides a case in point:Until the 1880’s 75% of NYC garbage was dumpeddirectly into the Atlantic Ocean.Later some waste was buried in land fills and the restwas burned in incinerators. The ash was dumped at sea.

Dumping of garbage and ash creates ‘dead zones’in the oceans (see red circles on the map).

There is virtually no life in these regions.

Year Act Public Law Number

1972 Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act P.L. 92-532

1974 London Dumping Convention Implementation P.L. 93-254

1977 Authorization of Appropriations P.L. 95-153

1980 Authorization of Appropriations P.L. 96-381

1980 Authorization of Appropriations P.L. 96-572

1982 Surface Transportation Assistance Act P.L. 97-424

1986 Budget Reconciliation P.L. 99-272, §§6061-6065

1986 Water Resources Development Act P.L. 99-662, §§211, 728, 1172

1987 Water Quality Act of 1987 P.L. 100-4, §508

1988 Ocean dumping research amendments P.L. 100-627, Title I

1988 Ocean Dumping Ban Act P.L. 100-688, Title I

1988U.S. Public Vessel Medical Waste Anti-Dumping Act of 1988

P.L. 100-688, Title III

1990 Regional marine research centers P.L. 101-593, Title III

1992 National Coastal Monitoring Act P.L. 102-567, Title V

1992 Water Resources Development Act P.L. 102-580, §§504-510

All of the laws (above) were intended to ban oceandumping, provide for monitoring of the environment,and improving the quality of water.

Much marine pollutioncame from the thousandsof ships that cross theseas each year.

Ships discharge:

Fuel oil

Human wastes

Bilge water, Water from ballast tanks,

Water used to flush out cargo holds and tanks.

Water from ships laundries

Solid wastes from all ship operations

Since there are thousands of ships of all kindsconstantly crossing the seas they account for agreat deal of marine pollution.

Recent laws andtreaties severelyrestrict this kind ofpollution, however

some shipping lines circumvent these regulations by registering their ships in countries that have notsigned the treaties and do not enforce these laws.

Eutrophication: A process in which an ecosystem isdamaged as a result of the introduction of plantnutrients such as nitrates and/or phosphates.

Most plants needminerals which theyusually get from theground or from thewater.

The most important of the minerals are nitrates andphosphates.

Usually it is the amount of these minerals available thatlimits plant growth.

When farmers fertilize their fields they are adding theseminerals. This increases crop yields.

But sometimes we add these same fertilizing mineralsto bodies of water even though we never intended to.

Sewage discharge containslarge amounts of nitrates fromhuman waste.

It also contains largeamounts of phosphatesfrom all the detergentswe use to clean dishes,laundry, and otheritems.

Another majorsource of nitratesand phosphates isrunoff from farms,golf courses, andlawns.

Adding fertilizer to bodiesof water causes algaeto grow at a very rapidrate.

The more algae thatgrow, the more algaedie, and when they diethey sink to the bottomforming a thick layerof dead plant material.

This is welcome news forthe bacteria in the waterwhich break down theplant material in a processcalled decay.

Of course more dead plantmaterial for the bacteria to‘eat’ means more bacteria.

Since these bacteria areaerobic they quickly useup all the oxygen in thewater.

Without dissolved oxygenin the water the fish, frogs,insects larvae, and all otheraerobic life forms vanish.

The only thing left is a body ofwater covered in a thick layer ofgreen slime.

Quick recap:

1) Add fertilizer (sewage) to a body of water.

2) More and more algae grow.

3) More algae growing means more algae dying.

4) Dead algae are food for aerobic bacteria living in the water so soon there are more bacteria.5) Bacteria deplete the oxygen in the water,

6) With the oxygen gone all the aerobic organisms, the fish, amphibians, and insect living in the water die.

7) What’s left is a lifeless, slime covered body of water.

Plastics:

The problem is simple.....

We dump thousands of tons of plastic in the oceans.

Almost none of it is biodegradable. It lasts forever.

Ocean currents calledgyres concentrate thefloating plastic garbageinto two large areas ofthe ocean.

Marine organisms,including birds, fish,turtles, and mammalssuch as whales anddolphins eat the plastic.

Since it cannot be digested it clogs their digestivesystems leading to slow death by starvation or worse,slow and painful death due to intestinal blockage.

Above, the rotting carcass of a pelican reveals whatkilled it: A lighter, a plastic bottle cap, a prescriptionpill vial and other assorted bits and pieces.

Many plastics release chemical into the water. Someof these are toxic while others don’t kill directly butinterfere with the reproductive cycles of marineorganisms.

Much attention has been given to BHA, a chemicalnow banned from use in food containers in the USand in Europe.

Still, millions of tons of plastics containing BHA arealready in the oceans and are releasing thechemical into the water.

The two primary sources of plastics are oceandumping of municipal waste (from cities) and dumping from ships.

As usual, attempts to regulate both sources bylaws and treaties are limited because so manycountries fail to sign treaties or to enforce laws.

In recent years manyproducts have beenmade with plasticmicro beads whichact as abrasives tosmooth skin.

More and more of theseparticles have beenappearing in the GreatLakes and will maketheir way to the oceans.

The micro beads create twoproblems................

First, they enter the food chainand interfere with normaldigestion.

Second, toxic chemicals in the water adhere to thesurface of the beads. When the beads are ingestedby marine organisms the toxins enter their bodies.In other words, the beads become a delivery systemto get toxins into marine life.

Some manufactures have already agreed to stopusing the beads in their products.

Anthropogenic Ocean Noise Pollution:

‘Anthropogenic’: Man-made‘Noise Pollution’: Sounds which cause harm

Sources of noise pollution: Low frequency active sonar used for echo-location or locating other ships. Seismic surveys using air gun arrays (similar to sonar but much more intense). Noise from ship propellers and on-board machinery.

Noise from drilling platforms

What harm is caused by noise pollution?

1) Many marine creatures use echo location to find food. Loud underwater noises interfere with normal feeding.

2) Noise may drive fish and other species away from places where food is abundant to other, less desirable feeding grounds.

3) Studies have documented hearing loss in many species of fish.

4) Some marine organisms use sound to attract mates. Noise can interfere with normal reproductive activities.

5) Fish, frightened by alien noises, have shown symptoms including..................................

Mutated offspring

Internal hemorrhaging

Higher mortality rates

Stranding (beachings) of whales and dolphins

There will be two bonus questions on the test based on the following 3 slides.

Oil pollution from spills, runoff from the land, andfrom ships at sea.

The two best known oil spills are the Exxon Valdezspill in March of 1989

and the BP spill in theGulf of Mexico in 2010

But there have been many other catastrophic oil spills. Here are just a few.

1) The Torrey Canyon Oil Spill, March 18, 1967Where: Scilly Isles, UKAmount spilled: 25-36 million gallons

2) The Sea Star Oil Spill, Dec. 19, 1972Where: Gulf of OmanAmount spilled: 35.3 million gallons

3) Arabian Gulf/Kuwait, Jan. 19, 1991Where: Persian Gulf, KuwaitAmount spilled: 380-520 million gallonsIntentional – spilled by Iraq forces to preventAmerican troops from landing in Kuwait.

4) Atlantic Empress Oil Spill, July 19, 1979Where: Off the coast of Trinidad and TobagoAmount spilled: 90 million gallons

5) Ixtoc 1 Oil Spill, June 3, 1979Where: Bay of Campeche off Ciudad del Carmen, MexicoAmount spilled: 140 million gallons