Pollution is the most common factor that has caused our oceans to take a drastic turn for the worse. One of the highest overlooked types of pollution within the waters come from noise and transportation. In fact, sound waves travel farther and faster in the sea than in air and “many marine mammals like whales and dolphins, in addition to fish and other sea creatures, rely on communication by sound to find food, mate, and navigate” (Denchak). Human-caused sound waves disturb the marine animals’ way of communication due to an interference in their echolocation: reflected sound which is used to identify the location of objects. The U.S. Navy made frequent use of high sonar to test and train themselves, which causes potentially worse effects and
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One trip to the beach and it’s not difficult to find pollution littering the sand or far out in the waters. This waste from land results in marine debris: trash or other waste that enters the ocean. According to the U.S. Department of State, “Marine debris – trash and other solid material that enters the ocean – threatens wildlife and marine habitats and presents health and safety concerns for humans” (“Marine Pollution.”). Not only is trash harmful to all living organisms, but it has one of the highest counts of items in the ocean, just falling behind cigarettes/cigarette filters (“What Is Marine Litter?”). Plastics within the ocean decompose into small pieces due to sunlight, oxidation, and being ripped apart by the waves. They dwindle down to microplastics, leaving them to be consumed by fish and other organisms that mistake them for food. The amount of plastic that accumulates in the ocean has an estimated total of 275 million metric tons (Tibbetts). In total there’s also 25 trillion pieces of plastic, with 5 of the most common found are all single-use plastic (Brucker). That’s a lot of plastic to be being broken down continually. Not only does this hurt the animals, but humans, too. As we consume more and more seafood, we swallow the fish that ingest the microplastics. We must take action in order to reduce pollution, for just on it’s own, it is drastically swaying the ecosystem of the ocean negatively through our careless actions and harmful pollutant build
One trip to the beach and it’s not difficult to find pollution littering the sand or far out in the waters. This waste from land results in marine debris: trash or other waste that enters the ocean. According to the U.S. Department of State, “Marine debris – trash and other solid material that enters the ocean – threatens wildlife and marine habitats and presents health and safety concerns for humans” (“Marine Pollution.”). Not only is trash harmful to all living organisms, but it has one of the highest counts of items in the ocean, just falling behind cigarettes/cigarette filters (“What Is Marine Litter?”). Plastics within the ocean decompose into small pieces due to sunlight, oxidation, and being ripped apart by the waves. They dwindle down to microplastics, leaving them to be consumed by fish and other organisms that mistake them for food. The amount of plastic that accumulates in the ocean has an estimated total of 275 million metric tons (Tibbetts). In total there’s also 25 trillion pieces of plastic, with 5 of the most common found are all single-use plastic (Brucker). That’s a lot of plastic to be being broken down continually. Not only does this hurt the animals, but humans, too. As we consume more and more seafood, we swallow the fish that ingest the microplastics. We must take action in order to reduce pollution, for just on it’s own, it is drastically swaying the ecosystem of the ocean negatively through our careless actions and harmful pollutant build