Marine Pollution
By: JJ, Hannah, and Sophie
What material causes the most marine pollution?
A big source of marine pollution is nonpoint source pollution. Different sources can get into runoff and then when the runoff reaches the water it is polluted and dirty which has the same effect on the water. Some materials or substances that are caught in nonpoint source runoff are fertilizer, different types of repellent, oil, grease, toxic chemicals, things like sediment or crops from erosion, bacteria, and many other things. This makes lots of little amounts of pollution turn into one big form of marine pollution when it reaches the water.
Nonpoint Source Pollution Contribution
This diagram shows how different areas can contribute to nonpoint source pollution.
Bacteria
This is a zoomed in photo of bacteria.
Nonpoint Source Pollution Materials
This image shows the different materials that can dirty runoff in nonpoint source pollution.
Where does the largest amount of marine pollution come from?
China is one of the biggest polluters of the ocean. The plastic waste from China is increasing rapidly through the years and other sources alike are causing China’s seas to become polluted. Also, although the frequency of oil spills is dropping each year they are still a big cause of marine pollution. They can be caused by tanker accidents or have something to do with barges or bridges. In the 1970s there were on average 24.6 oil spills a year, and in the 2000s that number has dropped to 3.3 spills a year which is a good sign. Most large oil spills have happened in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean so this implies that the Middle East and the United States or Europe have contributed to marine pollution in large amounts. This makes us infer that China is the biggest marine polluter that we know of based on the data given.
Map of Plastic Waste
This map shows that China is among the top polluters of the ocean.
Oil Spills
This shows how catastrophic some oil spills can be, and how much that they can spread.
"Plastic Pollution Culprits"
The map above shows the amounts of plastic pollution from different areas, and provides a key with different amounts so that you can see who the "culprits" really are.
How does pollution build its way up on the food chain?
It starts off when people throw waste into the water, and small animals absorb it such as plankton and krill. The waste and chemicals get stuck in the animals and larger animals eat them. The higher up on the food chain the more pollution that is stored in the animal. Build up of toxins is called bioaccumulation. 80% of marine pollution is caused by oil spills, toxic chemical run off, untreated sewage's which causes animals to be sick and die off. More then 1 million animals die a year from pollution .
Pollution in the air
This is how gas can effect animals we eat and then effect us.
Town pollution
This shows the towns pollution spilling into the water
Food chain
This shows small animals getting eaten by their prey.
How can we prevent ocean pollution?!
Always clean up after yourself, leaving one piece of trash can effect 5 animals! We also can prevent pollution by using organic fertilizer and sprays. You can organize a clean up on your beach or anywhere. Another way to prevent marine pollution is to use less things with plastic in them. For example, don't buy plastic water bottles at stores, when you go grocery shopping take a bag with you instead of using the plastic ones at the store, and recycle!
trash on a beach
This is a picture of trash on a beach.
This person is doing a beach cleanup
There is trash everywhere which will be soon cleaned up. Just after the trash will soon cover the beach again.
Plastic Trash
This is a picture of trash
How are plants and animals are effected by marine pollution?
For example, if toxic chemicals are dumped into the ocean, the ocean's temperature rises (this is called thermal pollution) and animals can not live in temperatures warmer than what they are used to. This means they can die if chemicals are dumped in the ocean. In addition, when a seabird eats plastic it takes up room in their stomach, which means they don't eat as much as they should which can cause them to starve. Plus, if animals eat plastic they can choke.
oil draining into ocean
This is a picture of oil and bacteria spilling into the ocean.
bird eating plastic bag
This is a picture of a bird eating plastic.
animals tangled in plastic
This is a picture of animals tangled in plastic.
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