Facts on Ocean Pollution
 Over 80% of the pollution in
the ocean is runoff from the
Land
 Almost 90% of all floating
materials in the ocean are
plastic
 Marine debris, especially plastic,
kills more than one million
seabirds and 100,000 mammals
and sea turtles every year
 Dead Zones which are areas of
oxygen deficient water were life
ceases to exist, have increased
drastically over the past decade.
 Polluted by toxins
Polluted by garbage
Types Of Pollution
Oil Spills
Sewage Pipes
Fertilizers
Chemicals
Garbage Oceans
Plastic in Oceans
Oil Spills
 Oil spills have huge and immediate economic, social, and environmental
impacts.
Local people lose their livelihoods as fisheries and tourism areas are
temporarily closed; the clean up costs are enormous; and tens of thousands of
marine animals and plants are killed or harmed.
And the damage goes on. The chemicals used to break up the oil can be toxic,
and it's impossible to remove all the spilled oil. Even after an area has been
cleaned up, it can take a decade or more to fully recover.
There's also the problem of the oil that goes down with the ship, which can
contaminate the seabed and marine organisms.
This oil can also resurface. In 2001, a cyclone off the island of Yap in Micronesia
disturbed the oil tanker USS Mississinewa, which was sunk during World War
II. For two months, thousands of liters of oil and gasoline leaked out of the
rusted ship wreck onto the beaches of the atoll, stopping the 700 islanders from
fishing. There are hundreds of other shipwrecked tankers around the world.
Information on Oil Spills
 http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML
/peril_oil_pollution.html
 http://www.noaawatch.gov/themes/oilspill.php
 http://ocean.si.edu/gulf-oil-spill
Fertilizers
 Fertilizers that runoff from farms and lawns is a huge
problem for coastal areas. The extra nutrients cause
Eutrophication.
 The run off kills the Algae which depletes the water's
dissolved oxygen and suffocate other marine life.
 Eutrophication is the addition of artificial or natural
substances, such as nitrates and phosphates,
through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system.
Eutrophication has created enormous dead zones in
several parts of the world, including the Gulf of
Mexico and the Baltic Sea
Information on Fertilizers
 http://www.organicconsumers.org/corp/oceans101104.
cfm
 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=oc
eanic-dead-zones-spread
 http://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/86/8613sci1.html
Sewage Pipes
In many parts of the world,
sewage flows untreated, or undertreated, into the ocean. For
example, 80% of urban sewage
discharged into
the Mediterranean Sea is
untreated.
This sewage can also lead to
eutrophication. In addition, it can
cause human disease and lead to
beach closures.
Back to Polluted by toxins
Outside information on Sewage Pipes
 http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-11-01/health/fl-
waste-outfall-broward-20101025_1_sewage-bills-reefrescue-water-shortage
 http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/04/us/sewage-pipe-
bursts-in-mexico-fouling-beaches-in-san-diego.html
 http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/04/23/us-usa-
florida-pollution-idUSN2230092520080423
Chemicals
Chemicals accumulate in organisms, becoming
concentrated in their bodies and in the
surrounding water or soil. These animals are in
turn eaten by larger animals, which can travel
large distances with an increased chemical load.
People become contaminated either directly from
household products or by eating contaminated
seafood and animal fats.
Evidence is mounting that a number of manmade chemicals can cause serious health
problems - including cancer, damage to the
immune system, behavioral problems, and
reduced fertility.
Information on Chemical Toxins
 http://www.seaweb.org/resources/briefings/toxic.php
 http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML
/peril_toxins.html
 http://www.cleanoceanaction.org/index.php?id=117
 http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6122/p/dia/actio
n/public/?action_KEY=4342
Garbage Dump
There are several garbage oceans
across the world but the biggest as
large as the size of Texas is the
Great Pacific Garbage Dump.
These Dumps Can be dangerous to
out animal wildlife and eventually
effect our fish that we would eat in
that area.
Information on Garbage Dump
 http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/ear
th/oceanography/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm
 http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/10-the-worlds-
largest-dump
 http://www.ecology.com/2008/08/14/pacific-plastic-
waste-dump/
Plastic
Unlike most other trash, plastic
isn't biodegradable Sunlight does
eventually break down the plastic,
reducing it to smaller and smaller
pieces, but that just makes matters
worse. The plastic still never goes away,
it just becomes microscopic and may
be eaten by tiny marine organisms,
entering the food chain.
The world produced 300 billion pounds
of plastic each year, about 10% ends up
in the ocean, 70% of which eventually
sinks
Outside information on Plastic
 http://www.savemyoceans.com/plastics.php
 http://www.plasticoceans.net/
 http://www.whoi.edu/science/B/people/kamaral/plast
icsarticle.html
 http://www.seeturtles.org/1128/ocean-plastic.html