Pidcock 1

Danielle Pidcock

Mrs T.

English 1010

27 November 2018

Ocean Pollutions

“The ocean covers more than 70 percent of the surface of our planet… [and] 97 percent

of the earth’s water can be found in our oceans” (NOAA). All though oceans make up most of

the earth’s surface, toxins from land and manmade products consume the oceans. 70 percent of

the earth's surface is polluted and disregarded. On June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River in

Cleveland Ohio caught on fire from oil slicked debri polluting it. This was not the first time that

river set a flame, rather, it followed 13 fires in 1868 and one in 1953. The fire in 1969 caused the

least amount of casualties and damages, but it caught the most attention helping spread the word

that pollution is a problem that people need to know about (Ohio History Connections 1).

Uncovering pollution and opening up the problem to the public, encouraging people to try to

change it. Once addressed and research it has been proven that ocean pollution harms the animals

and plants that are in the ocean by influencing their normal and their surroundings. When those

are effect it has a ripple effect to humans and their everyday life. These pollutants are bad for

oceans animal life, its plant life, and human life, with the new education about where pollution

comes from, organizations and congress have created “acts” and ways to either keep or clean up

the ocean.

In 1970, President Nixon signed the NEPA, National Environmental Policy Act, set goals

to try to help the environment by restoring the damage already caused and prevent it from
 Pidcock 2

happening again. (NEPA.gov). The U.S. was not the only country to care about this growing

problem, so did the polluted world. In March of 1996 an article by ​Washington Watch​ gave out

information of a conference held by nations. More than 100 nations came together to navigate

the main problems of pollution and come to a solution. In the end they agreed upon the UNEP

treaty that bans 12 of the most harmful persistent organic pollutants, POP’s. On top of that they

addressed the sewage or wastewater treatment. The conferees hoped to fix this by pinpointing a

high polluted area and putting new technology there to help clean the wastewater before entering

the ocean (Barker 1). Pollution has been around since man started changing the world to fit its

needs. In the article “People and Oceans” it says

Although these pollutants often caused problems in the past for marine

communities (and even some of the human communities responsible for them),

they usually didn’t do permanent damage to the ocean. Now, though, the amount

of pollution pouring into the ocean is greater than it’s ever been. And some of the

modern pollutants are much more harmful than those of the past. ( Diving in

Oceans 1)

With more pollution, than ever, there is more problems. Pollution has been around and will

continue to be around until its solved.

Pollution is often referred to the trash aspects of plastic and garbage because this is the

pollution that people can see. In the article “Throw Back: Plastic Pollution Is Clogging up the

Ocean and Drowning Fish” it talks about how plastics were made in the 1950s and have been

rising ever since. Plastic is not biodegradable, but all the plastic in the ocean either builds up into

“floating islands” or breaks down into little particles making areas in the ocean toxic for ocean
 Pidcock 3

life (Torma 1).In figure 1 it shows a graph

about the predicted time different kinds of

garbage will be in the ocean before it breaks

down. The lowest, styrofoam cups, of 50 years

and the highest, fishing line, being about 600

years. While plastic and other garbage pollute

the ocean so does water-waste, pesticides,

heavy metals, and sewage. Pollution can enter

the ocean two different ways: point source, and

nonpoint source. Point source is pollution that makes its way into water by a specific means such

as pipes, a ship, or a factory. Where as non-point is something that comes from land and makes

its way into the ocean through means on mudslides, melting snow, or absorption from the

atmosphere (National Ocean Service 2-3). Anything that has a potential harmful impact can

make its way to the ocean if not taken care of. Although some pollutants can happen naturally,

like mudslides or run off, most of them are man made.

Pollution harms ocean animal life and makes surviving difficult. In the article “Effects Of

Environmental Pollution On Fish”, Zarah Khoshnood brings out the effects of pollution on fish.

The most effective pollutants on fish are heavy metals and pesticides. These make their way to

the ocean in various ways such as volcano activity, forest fires, industrial wastewater or solid

waste dumping, and agricultural products. With a wide variation of how these pollutants can get

into the ocean they have a wide variation of changes cause on ocean animal life. Heavy metals

change and mutate the structure of fish gills and can cause filaments and bleeding. It also causes
 Pidcock 4

degeneration of a fish's liver. Pesticides cause detachment in the gills and shrinking of gill layers.

It also goes on to affect the liver and kidney ( Khoshnood 49-59). With this, pollutants are taking

animals normal biology and surroundings and changing them, forcing ocean animals life to adapt

to things they should not have to. Survival is getting harder and harder for them. Pollution is

harming the biological by changing their structure and making it more difficult to live. While

pollution, such as waste and pesticides, change a fish’s normal way of life, other pollutants such

as plastic or garbage make it impossible for some animals to live. In January of 2018 a video was

put on youtube about a whale coming into a public bay. The fire department tried to get it to go

away and after many attempts decided to kill it. Local people decided to see what was causing

this abnormal behavior in the whale. Cutting it open they found plastic all inside of the stomach

and made the conclusion the whale was starving to death. A bullet may have ended the whales

life but pollution of plastic was killing it (LavenderLushLuxury). Plastic was made to last

forever to hold products that will last a short period of time. With each plastic pollutant it affects

animals and their way of life. In the article “Ocean Plastics Pollution” it brings to light that not

just fish or whales are influenced by ocean pollution, but that all marine mammals, sea turtles,

and seabirds can mistake plastic as food and starve to death from ingesting plastic. It also points

out that all these animals in some ways can get trapped in plastic or garbage. Production of

plastic is suspected to rise and with each product made is the potential of a fish, sea turtles, or sea

birds mistake it as food or marine mammals getting tangled up in plastic debri (Biological

Diversity 1).

Pollution not only affects just the animals but all the ocean plant life. One effect on plant

life is the lack of them. Dead zones are large areas in the ocean where there is an absence of life
 Pidcock 5

other than bacteria. In the article “Ocean Dead Zones Multiplying” it points out that these happen

for natural reasons, but since pollution, there as been a spike of them. Dead zones occur when

pollutants such as fertilizer, sewage, and industry toxins make its way into the ocean causing a

perfect area for algae and other bacteria to grow causing a increase of the lack of oxygen. Dead

zones cannot support other marine life, animal and plants, and so they have to leave. These dead

zones can stretch for miles and in the end trying to get back to a balanced ecosystem if often

impossible depending on the damage already made (Scheer, Moss). Affecting the plant life

affects the whole ecosystem and makes it difficult to sustain life or progress or recover if any

natural disaster take place. The ocean runs on a chain and when there is not enough food or the

right elements such as oxygen other life like animals and other plants either die off or leave.

As pollution affects the ocean life it affects human life as well. The National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration in the article “Nonpoint Source Pollution” states “Coastal and

marine waters support 28.3 million jobs, generate $54 billion in goods and services through

activities” (U.S. Department of Commerce 2). Pollution could potentially put all those people out

of jobs. In the article “Ocean Health and Human Health” it explains the harmful effects of ocean

pollution on people. Many people still rely on the ocean as a food source and for a means to

make money. As pollution affects these animals it affects the human economy and human

resources. Pollution makes fish not eatable by having it be too toxic and then either a call back

happens or it makes people sick (Knowlton 1). Pollution is also killing off animals making there

be less of wild animals to eat/sell. With not only people's economy and health but entertainment.

As people use the oceans or waters for recreational activities, pollutants are going to take that

away from people as well. A lot of people that live by the chores go there to have fun.In the
 Pidcock 6

article “What is the biggest source of pollution in the Ocean?” it states “Pollution can make river

and ocean water unsafe for humans and wildlife. In some areas, this pollution is so bad that it

causes beaches to be closed after rainstorms” (NOAA 1). It continues to explain more that

pollution garbage can make its way back to the shores and sometimes will cause a beach to shut

down because different pollutants in the water. Otherwise, humans can get sick if they swim in a

polluted areas (NOAA 1).

There is no quick solution to the damaging pollutants people have put into the ocean, yet

there are positive steps toward the right direction to solving pollution. Recycling is something

many people are adopting and it helps limit the amount of trash that can eventually make its way

back into the ocean. Even though recycling is becoming popular, Peter Vandergrift said

“Americans may be recycling more than ever before, but we’re also making more trash than ever

before”. People are coming up with ways to help, but to really start helping the problem is at the

industry levels and the waste-water they pour into bodies of water. Researchers are finding out

how to make biodegradable plastic and how to clean up wastewater (National Wildlife

Federation). There are many organizations that are trying to spread the word about ocean

pollution and raise money to help clean it up.

Recycling and cleaning up cannot begin without people knowing there is a problem. Just

as pollution was first diagnosed as a problem spreading the word will help move about a change.

When the fire from pollution was started in Ohio it caught the world's attention and brought

about acts to help it get better. In 1996 the world leaders came together to hold a conference

about ocean pollution and how it was an actual problem. Raising awareness about ocean

pollution and the effects of it are ways to help ocean pollution. Many people do not see the harm
 Pidcock 7

in spilling oil in their dirt or not recycling some trash. Yet small and simple things can have a

huge impact, and that impact is on our oceans (Baker 1). Congress has tackled the problem of

plastic pollution in the US and the problem has become better in some ways. The ocean connects

to all the continents making it a national problem. Pollution needs to be brought up and helped

throughout the world. Take resources we use to help clean waste water and give it to other

nations.
 Pidcock 8

Work Cited

Baker, Beth. “Nations Coming to Agreement That Polluted Oceans Need a Cleanup.”

BioScience​, vol. 46, no. 3, Mar. 1996, p. 183. ​EBSCOhost,​ search.ebscohost.com/login

.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9602288023&site=ehost-life.

Biscéré, Tom, et al. “Responses of Two Scleractinian Corals to Cobalt Pollution and Ocean

Acidification.” ​Plos One,​ vol. 10, no. 4, Apr. 2015, p. e0122898. ​EBSCOhost,​

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0122898.

Chafe, Zoë. “Ocean Dead Zones Multiplying.” ​World Watch​, vol. 17, no. 4, July 2004, p. 10.

EBSCOhost​,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=13574945&site

=Ehost-live.

“Cuyahoga River Fire.” ​Battle of Lake Erie - Ohio History Central,​ N.P.,

www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Cuyahoga_River_Fire.

Khoshnood, Zahra. “Effects of Environmental Pollution on Fish: A Short Review.”

Transylvanian Review of Systematical & Ecological Research,​ vol. 19, no. 1, Jan. 2017,

pp. 49–60. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1515/trser-2017-0005.

Knowlton, Nancy. “Ocean Health and Human Health.” ​Environmental Health Perspectives,​ vol.

112, no. 5, Apr. 2004, p. A262. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=13010722&site=ehost-live.

LavenderLushLuxury. “OCEAN POLLUTION: This Whale Had A Message From The Deep”

YouTube.​ YouTube, 8 Jan 2018. Web 20 Nov 2018

Manke, Kara. “Clean Water Act Dramatically Cut Pollution in U.S. Waterways.” ​Berkeley News​,

N.P., 8 Oct. 2018,

news.berkeley.edu/2018/10/08/clean-water-act-dramatically-cut-pollution-in-u-s-waterwa

ys/.

“NEPA | National Environmental Policy Act.” ​NEPA | National Environmental Policy Act,​ N.P.,

ceq.doe.gov/.

Ocean Plastics Pollution,​ N.P., www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/ocean_plastics/.

“Ocean Plastic Pollutions.” ​Ocean Plastics Pollution,​ N.P.Web. 20 Nov 2018 ,www

.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/ocean_plastics/

“Ocean Pollution.” ​Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia​, 2017, p. 1p. 1.

EBSCOhost​, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=funk&AN=OC004050&site=ehost-live.

“People and Oceans.” ​Diving into Oceans,​ Jan. 2005, p. 52. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=16265364&site=ehost-live.

TORMA, TIM. “Throw Back: Plastic Pollution Is Clogging up the Ocean and Drowning Fish.”

Kayak Angler,​ vol. 11, no. 4, Winter 2017, p. 18. ​EBSCOhost,​

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=127423293&site=ehost-live.

Blockstein, David E. “Congress Tackles Ocean Plastic Pollution.” ​BioScience,​ vol. 38, no. 1, Jan.

1988, p. 19. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=8gh&AN=10142401&site=ehost-live.

US Department of Commerce, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “What Is

the Biggest Source of Pollution in the Ocean?” ​NOAA's National Ocean Service​, N.P., 8

Oct. 2008, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pollution.html.

US Department of Commerce, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Nonpoint Source Pollution.” ​NOAA's National Ocean Service​, N.P., 19 Dec. 2004,

oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/pollution/02history.html.