Man Made Impacts to the
Open
Ocean
There are many
kinds of impacts or
threats to the open
ocean. Some are
natural, like storms,
and some are man
made, like pollution.
The pictures below
show some impacts
of both kinds.
Man Made vs Natural
 Marine Debris
 Trash,old fishing
gear
 Noise Pollution
 Motors, sonar
 Storm Events
 Storms can change
currents and other
habitats in the ocean
 Disease
 Diseases may make
ocean animals sick
 Chemical Pollution  Algae Blooms
 Oil spills, toxic
waste
 Algae can grow very
fast into a bloom that
is toxic
Today we will concentrate on Marine Debris and
Noise Pollution
Noise Pollution
Marine animals, particularly marine mammals and fish, use sound
for reproduction, feeding, predator avoidance, and navigation
(Popper 2003).
Marine life uses sound because sound travels 5 times the speed of
sound in air. Vision is only useful for tens of meters underwater,
yet sound can be heard for hundreds, even thousands of
kilometers.
Noise pollution is any man made noise that might be louder
than the natural sounds in the ocean!!!
Volume Levels of Sounds in the
Ocean
Natural
 Wind and waves 85 dB
Man Made
 Large tanker ships 177 dB

 Earthquake 95-135 dB
 Harp seal call 130 - 140 dB
 Bottlenose dolphin 150 dB
 Icebreaker ships 183 dB
 cycling noise primarily in Arctic
Ocean, north of Canada, Alaska, and
Russia
 Humpback whale moan 175
dB
 Gray whale moan 185 dB
Sounds above 90 dB can
damage the human ear
continuous noise on shipping
pathways all over the world
 Low frequency sonar 235 dB
 Continuous pulses of sound used to
find navy ships and submarines
 Seismic oil exploration 210 dB
http://scicom.ucsc.edu/SciNotes/9601/O
ceanNoise/Sounds/Humpback.aiff
 Low pitched pulses of sound, used to
find oil in ocean areas world-wide
What does too much noise
pollution do???
Pilot whale stranding
What is Marine Debris???
 Floating garbage in the sea
 Litter on the beach
 Man-made rubbish that did not get put in a
trash can!
Why should we care about
Marine Debris
 Marine debris is the #1 killer of all
ocean life. Millions of ocean animals
die every year.
 90% of marine debris is plastic
 Some plastics may take 450 years to
biodegrade
 You can make a difference!
How does marine debris get into
the ocean???
Trash may get washed off the land by rain or rivers, washed
off the beach by waves, or dumped at sea by people!
What does marine debris do to the
open ocean environment??
 Entangle
 Poison
 Debris like food
containers and
cigarettes have
toxic chemicals
 Get eaten
 This is one of the
worst ones for birds
 Think about what
plastic bags look like
in the water
How did this albatross die?
Look at all the different kinds
of trash! Think where your
trash might end up
What YOU can do to help!!!
 Pick up litter
 Support ocean




conservation
Recycle
Go to beach
cleanups
Eat less packaged
food
Use a reusable
bag when you go
to the store