Pollution in Oceans

Kylee Bundy

12-5-17

Final Research Paper

Pollution in Oceans
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Beautiful, vast oceans that cover more than 70% of the world today are slowly

diminishing as we speak. The leading cause, pollution. Pollution is slowly but surely covering

our oceans, harming sea life, and damaging all the plants and coral that contribute to marine life.

Not only is pollution caused by careless people on land but also natural disasters. The rate of

pollution has accelerated in the past few years. Our oceans were seen as huge, indestructible

pieces of art and were taken for granted in early time periods (“What is Ocean Pollution”).

Pollution is separated into different categories such as; oil, dumping, nutrient, agricultural runoff,

aquaculture, sunscreen and swimmer, and the unheard of cause noise pollution (Kinhal). All of

these different types play a role in pollution, some more than others. Some categories are

unstoppable because of natural causes and others can be significantly decreased.

Oil is one of the most harmful substances found in the ocean, but also very important to

society today. Oil is mined from the bottom of the ocean surfaces and is used for the fuels we

need today. Minimal seepage occurs from cracks in the ocean surfaces and cannot be prevented.

However, the oil that seeps out of cars and machines on land is washed into drains by rainwater,

and eventually makes its way to one of the four oceans. Every few years we hear about major oil

spills in the oceans. These spills refer to tankers, wells, and drilling rigs. Oil rigs only contribute

to about 10% of the oil found in the oceans because they are not a frequent occurrence. Fuel that

is used to activate ships on the ocean contributes a small amount of oil to our oceans. The

shipping industry causes 30% of oil pollution today (Kinhal).

One of the most popular causes of pollution and the most noticeable of them all is

dumping pollution. Dumping has affected over two thirds of today's marine life (Hinton). This is

also known as littering. Dumping contributes to 80% of pollution. Plastic is the most popular
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type of dumping and is responsible for 65% of this category. Dumping in oceans was legal up

until the 1970’s, and today illegal dumping happens daily (Kinhal). Sadly, dumping usually

occurs because of carelessness and could easily be prevented. The effects dumping has on

marine life is endless. It has been found to clog the gills of fish, leaving them unable to properly

carry out respiration. Researches have also found a lot of marine life suffocate. This occurs

because of bags and other discarded items getting wrapped around heads of fish or mammals,

hindering breathing and movement. The other negative effect most seen by researchers is plastic

and garbage wrapping itself around plants and corals. This results in the inability for sunlight to

reach these important living organisms, leaving them to slowly die. Dumping in the ocean also

refers to the lack of chemicals needed to thrive on for marine life. When a piece of garbage is

exited into the ocean, it takes up oxygen and space. This is very harmful to all forms of life in the

ocean. Dumping is the first type of pollution that needs to be eliminated according to researchers

to begin to save our precious oceans. Keeping beaches clean and terminating illegal dumping on

and off shore will help our oceans positively (Hinton).

There are over 400 dead zones in our oceans today. These result from a lack of oxygen

and eutrophication. Eutrophication is another name used when researchers say “excess amount of

nutrients”. When there is a lack of oxygen it results in disease to sea life and the bleaching of

coral. This is called nutrient pollution (Kinhal). Nutrient pollution means that there is an excess

amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in the water. Having these elements in abundance works like

a fertilizer and leads to an overgrowth of algae which eventually becomes very harmful. This

type of pollution is the most challenging and costly in today's society (“EPA”). Sewage is the

main contribution to this costly type of pollution. Human wastewater is drained into oceans

slowly but surely. Often you will find sewers that our untreated and this sledge pollutes the
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ocean greatly. Pet and pesticide waste also falls into this category. When these types of things are

carried by rain water into drains, they lead to the oceans. These all contribute to disease within

animals and plants because of the microbes and pathogens they carry. Daily, humans use soaps

and detergents as household needs which contribute to nutrient pollution without anyone even

knowing (Kinhal). There has been a major increase of people living on the coast. Living on the

coast where the weather is always good is popular today. As the population of people living on

the coast increases, so does nutrient pollution. This causes more nutrients to enter the water from

wastewater treatment facilities, runoff water from urban areas during rainfall, and farming

(“National Ocean Service”). As you can see dumping can be easily prevented if you take the

right precautions.

An accidental type of pollution mainly coming from farmers is agricultural runoff.

Agricultural runoff consists of all the pesticides and fertilizers that farmers use in there soils to

maintain their farms. Runoff usually occurs when rainwater carries the pollutants into streams

and rivers. These streams and rivers eventually lead to oceans carrying the pollutants every step

of the way (Kinhal). Agriculture is the leading cause of the nations impaired and unhealthy

water. It is also the most accidental. Farmers are not intentionally trying to harm oceans, they are

doing what the need to have a successful business. Agriculture is necessary in providing food

and jobs to a lot of americans and cannot be prevented. This type of pollution has just been

recently discovered by scientists after they have done many tests in streams. Some test revealed

large amounts of harmful substances and some with a lesser amount. Farm runoff has been a

huge problem particularly in 2017. In 2016, the midwest experienced a drought. This drought

was a gateway for farmers to keep applying pesticides to their crops. Then in 2017, the midwest

experienced a very wet spring washing last years and this years harmful substances into the
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streams (“NPR”). Farmers also use animal manure to fertilize their crops. This is also considered

pollution. Manure contains high amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus which can lead to the

spread of ammonia. Ammonia is very harmful to aquatic life. To improve water quality and

reduce agricultural runoff farmers are encouraged have nutrient management. This means using

proper amounts of fertilizers and pesticides at the proper times. Farmers are also encouraged to

have buffers. A buffer is defined as having trees or landscape bordering the body of water near

the farm to try and eliminate what enters the water (“EPA”). Agriculture is very important to

today's nation and cannot be taken away, but if you take the proper steps you can make the ocean

water healthier.

The one type of pollution that almost everyone is responsible for is classified as swimmer

and sunscreen pollution. When you apply sunscreen and then jump into the ocean water you are

polluting it. The sunscreen you applied is now washing off into the oceans and coats the aquatic

plants. When it coats the plants it eventually suffocates them. The chemical in sunscreen that is

responsible for this is called oxybenzone. Oxybenzone is an organic compound chemical that is

very toxic and is found in many cosmetic lotions. Some people think that buying organic

sunscreen helps with pollution. Researchers found that to be false. Organic sunscreens are made

with plant based oils. These plant based oils usually contain some type of bug repellent. Bug

repellent contaminates the water by releasing many insecticides and fungicides that are very

harmful to aquatic animals and plants (Kinhal). When you are visiting the ocean and you may

notice a very shimmery and oily substance forming on the surface of the water, that is caused by

the chemicals in sunscreen. The harmful chemicals greatly affect coral reefs. Not every coral reef

is affected, but the ones that mean a lot to everyone seem to be the ones affected. These are the

coral reefs that are standing to prevent coasts from erosion. It also hinders the ability of damaged
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coral reefs to repair themselves (Downs). Today this pollution is rapidly increasing because it

cannot be prevented. You cannot stop tourists from where sunscreen to protect themselves, but

little do they know they are harming a lot of the oceans marine life.

Many mammals living in the ocean today such as dolphins and whales you echolocation

to survive. Echolocation is where the mammal creates sound waves and these waves repel off

objects, guiding the mammals where they need to go. Noise pollution is greatly affecting this

needed survival skill. Noise pollution can occur from natural causes, such as earthquakes.

Earthquakes cannot be controlled, and occur naturally in earth. Earthquakes do not happen often,

so noise pollution is aimed at humans. Humans play a huge part in noise pollution when they use

ships or oil rigs. These objects cause minimal sound deep in the ocean, but still put marine life at

risk. The number one cause of noise pollution is an air gun. Air guns are used to locate fossil

fuels underneath the oceans surfaces. They are found to be six times louder than ships and oil

rigs. All of these pollutants are causing a decrease in population for crustaceans and small fish.

For mammals using echolocation it is causing disruptions in hunting, reproduction, and

migration. These mammals will try their best to avoid these noisy areas in the oceans. Avoiding

these areas in the oceans can affect them negatively. If you try to limit these louder noises it will

have a positive effect on all ocean life especially larger mammals (Kinhal).

One last type of pollution that has a small effect on ocean life is called aquaculture. Fish

breeding farms are classified as aquaculture. When these fish are released into freshwater or

saltwater they are usually dumped in mass amounts. When the fish are unloaded there old food

residue follows. Believe it or not this food residue has a negative impact on aquatic life. The

foods that these fish are given at their breeding grounds contain antibiotics for growth. These

remnants are a gateway for diseases and parasites. Disease and parasites haven been found to
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greatly affect the migration of fish (Kinhal). A lot of chemicals are used at fish breeding grounds

to pursue successful harvest. These chemicals are also released with the fish, and can coat

animals and plants who thrive on the ocean floor (“Seafood Watch”). These consumers play a

small role in pollution, but when it comes to pollution is slowly adds up.

Beautiful oceans that cover more than 70% of the world today are diminishing. Pollution

is slowly killing sea life and harming aquatic plants. It may seem like the oceans are to large to

harm but that is false. Oil pollution, dumping, nutrient, agriculture, aquaculture, sunscreen and

swimmer, and noise pollution are compacting and rapidly taking over one of the most abundant

resources in world (Kinhal). Humans contribute to a lot of pollution found in the oceans, but

natural causes also play their role. When humans pollute our oceans it is usually carelessness. If

pollution continues to increase at a fast rate we will slowly lose our vast oceans and kill off all of

the marine and plant life that thrive off the oceans. There are many steps that workers, farmers,

and costal livers can take to slowly reduce and diminish pollution in the oceans.

Works Cited

“Aquaculture.” Seafood Watch. Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2017.

Downs, Craig. “Sunscreen Pollution.” Marinesafe. N.p., 3 May 2016. Web. 5 Dec. 2017.

Hinton, Kevin. “The effects of Ocean Dumping.” Environment 911. My passion media, n.d.

Web. 4 Dec. 2017.

Kinhal, Vijayalaxmi. “Types of Ocean Pollution.” Love to know. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2017.

“The Problem.” EPA. n.p., 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 5 Dec. 2017.

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“The Sources and Solutions-Agriculture.” EPA. n.p., 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 5 Dec. 2017.

“What is Farm Runoff.” NPR. n.p., 5 July 2017. Web. 5 Dec. 2017.

“What is Nutrient Pollution.” National Ocean Service. N.p., 1 Sept. 2009. Web. 5 Dec. 2017.