How Dirty Ocean Affect Marine Animals

How Dirty Ocean Affect Marine Animals 

The surface of the Earth is covered by water by 71%. Only 2.5 percent of the water is fresh while the rest is ocean and only about 1% of the water is easily accessible and the majority of it is trapped in glaciers and snowfields.  This means the surface of the Earth is mostly water and with all the pollution going on at the sea and other water sources, the global demand of fresh water will increase despite the Earth's population are growing.

The pollution of the ocean are getting worst although many steps have been taken to ensure a cleaner ocean. This then brings up the question," Where are all this pollution coming from? ".

Source of ocean pollution

Most of the ocean pollution (marine pollution) comes from chemicals and trash.

Chemical pollution

Chemical contamination in the ocean water raises concerns for health, environment and economic. Marine chemical pollution mainly comes from farming activities. Farmers use herbicide, pesticide, and fertiliser to grow their plants. These chemicals will find their way to flowing water which ends up back into the ocean. On top of that, industrial waste and sewage waste are simply being thrown away into the ocean.These irresponsible act risk the lives of many species. Chemicals as such contains phosphorus and nitrogen which act as an agent for algal bloom. So why are algal bloom bad for creatures living in the water?

The algae that form by the presence of the chemical waste covers the surface of the water. The underwater plants are unable to reach sunlight causing them to to reduce the rate of photosynthesis( a  process where plants produce oxygen). When the rate of photosynthesis has decline, the amount of dissolve oxygen in the water are also decreasing effecting the respiration of fishes causing fishes and other species in the ocean to die. Bare in mind that algae blooms grows at fast rate.

Trashes

Trashes in the ocean (marine trash) comes from all manufactured products. 80% of marine trash  comes from land. Littering, storm winds and poor management are the reasons why trashes end up in the ocean.

Trashes raise life threats on marine animals. Endangered animals such as turtles are at tiger risk of extinction due to trash in the ocean. The trashes could be stuck in their digestive system causing the animals to choke. Larger debris like fishing nets traps the marine animals which suffocates them and prevent it from performing crucial movement such as swimming and diving.

Plastics are especially problematic for marine animals. Plastic are known for being long-lasting which takes up hundreds of years for it to biodegrade. Trashes such as plastic would trap fishes and other marine animals to be tangled which leads to injuries. Some small organism may even get confused of plastic being food. Small bits of plastic called 'micro plastic' are swallowed by the organism. The chemicals in the plastic are then absorbed into their bodies. The organism will be eaten be small fishes which are then eaten by bigger fishes causing the chemicals to find its way up the food chain which may end up on our dinner table as our meal. Ingestion of plastic trash is bad for humans which may cause health risk. Increase of birth defect and cancer is possible due to the consume of plastic waste.

Affects Of Oil Spills On Marine Animals

Animals with fur and feathers such as sea otters and birds are especially at risk when oil spills occur. Oil destroys the ability of these mammals to insulate their body from the cold temperature of the ocean. Without any insulation, the mammals faces death caused by hypothermia.Birds also tend to

ingest some of the oil spill when trying to clean themselves which are poisonous to them.

Oil will naturally float above water as it is less dense than water. This is why fishes are not the main predator of oil spills as they can easily manoeuvre. Being said that, there are some cases that fishes do die of oil spilling. Coral reefs, which is a habitat to fishes are at danger when come in contact with oils. Marine animals like fishes, crabs and other marine invertebrate may loose their habitat when coral reefs are destroyed which eventually disrupts the ecosystem of the marine animals.