Marine Pollution

Marine Pollution

For many, the ocean is a dumping ground for anything and everything. Advocates believe the “solution to pollution is dilution.”
SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

•  Solid waste, such as plastic bags, are consumed by marine life, often with deadly consequences
• Discarded fishing nets drift for years, ensnaring fish and mammals
• Scientists have discovered the pharmaceuticals we ingest but don’t fully process end up in the fish we EAT
• Non-point Source of Pollution
  One of the biggest sources of marine pollutants is a result of runoff from such places as farms, septic tanks, and industrialized areas
• Hypoxia Nitrogen-rich fertilizer runoff can cause massive algae blooms, robbing water of oxygen leaving little to no viable areas for marine life

Common man-made pollutants to reach the ocean:

• Pesticides
• Herbicides
• Chemical fertilizers
• Detergents
• Oil
• Sewage
• Plastics

State The Facts…

• In the North Pacific, the garbage patch known as the Pacific Trash Vortex is estimated to be the size of Texas
• Each summer a dead zone the size of New Jersey forms in the Mississippi River Delta
• In 2010, a new massive garbage patch was identified in the Atlantic Ocean
• Many pollutants collect at the oceans depths where they are consumed by small marine organisms and then introduced to the global food chain
• Degradation of shoreline areas have accelerated dramatically over the past 3 centuries with the increase of industrial discharge and runoff from farms and coastal cities

Noise Pollution
Sonar, oil rigs or even earthquakes can disturb migration, communication and reproduction patterns of marine life, particularly mammals

By The Numbers…

• 80 Is the percentage of marine pollutant that comes from land
• A 1,000-mile-wide swath of decomposing plastic is floating in the northern Pacific Ocean
• More than third of shellfish growing in US waters are adversely affected by coastal pollution
• Scientists have counted some 400 dead zones around the world
• 1972 is the year US congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, better-known as the Clean Water Act
• There are 40 million acres of lakes and reservoirs in the United States