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How Water Pollution Affects Marine Animals

Pollution of seas and oceans is a growing reality these days and this has serious consequences for marine life, such as disorientation problems, alterations in food chains, toxicity to marine fauna, destruction of marine ecosystems and even ends there are also consequences for the human being.

In this AgroCorrn article we will see exclusively how water pollution affects marine animals , as it is necessary to become aware of the damage that this great environmental problem entails for everyone and not only for people.

You may also be interested in: Marine pollution: causes and consequences
Index
  1. What is marine or sea and ocean pollution
  2. How water pollution affects marine animals: consequences
  3. How many marine animals die per year from water pollution
  4. Possible solutions to marine pollution

What is marine or sea and ocean pollution

Pollution is defined as the introduction of harmful pollutants into an ecosystem where they are not common. Greenpeace estimates that between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons of plastic reach the oceans each year, something equivalent to the weight of 800 Eiffel Towers, 34 times the length of Manhattan Island or the weight of 14,285 Airbus A380 aircraft) . Every second more than 200 kg of garbage ends up in the oceans and there are already up to 5 islands of microplastic garbage (mostly) in the terrestrial oceans: two in the Pacific, two in the Atlantic and one in the Indian Ocean. Most of this garbage (up to 80%) comes from terrestrial ecosystems and it is estimated that by 2020 it may reach 500 million tons.

These microplastics are of different types , but fundamentally of four classes:

  • Polyethylene: such as plastic bags, bottles or microspheres from cosmetic products.
  • Polyester: such as clothing fabrics.
  • Polypropylene: as the material contained in electrical appliances, garden furniture or vehicle components.
  • Polyvinyl chloride: as the material of pipes or windows.

Many of these plastics are not incinerated or recycled and end up floating down the waterways and reaching the oceans .

But not all marine pollution is plastic. Pesticides, fertilizers or herbicides from intensive agriculture also end up seeping into the land and contaminating aquifers, until they finally reach the sea. Other pollutants are slurry from livestock farms, dyes used in the textile industry, chemicals, heavy metals, radioactive materials from factories or some household products.

Another type of pollution of the marine environment is acoustics . This contamination may be due to the increasingly common presence of high-powered sounds from sonars, oil installations, ships or natural sources, such as earthquakes, which can spread long distances without losing intensity and negatively affect wildlife.

Learn more about this great environmental problem in this other AgroCorrn article on Marine Pollution: causes and consequences .

How water pollution affects marine animals: consequences

All this mixture of chemicals in the sea is ideal for the development of plants such as sea lentils, lemna or algae and dangerous bacteria, protozoa and fungi, which can be harmful to marine organisms.

For example, the development of algae on the surface of the water that restricts the passage of light to the deep sea, which is known as the eutrophication process , which is used by plants to produce oxygen, on which they depend in turn. invertebrates and other marine animals. Other species of blue-green algae produce toxic substances that kill fish and other aquatic organisms. Other animals such as dolphins, migratory whales, sea ​​turtles , sharks, rays or seals are injured or killed by ingesting marine debris or by being trapped with it, especially by plastics.

Some cetaceans, such as whales, are particularly affected by noise pollution in our oceans. This is because in their long migrations, they use many sounds to orient themselves. Due to this contamination, they can become disoriented by increasing, for example, the number of strandings .

How many marine animals die per year from water pollution

Due to water pollution , 1.5 million birds, fish, turtles and whales die every year in the sea , but even if they do not kill them, it is estimated that in the North Pacific, up to 30% of the fish have ingested plastic in some point in its life cycle.

For example, the northern right whale is particularly affected by entrapment and is currently in danger of extinction. Four other species of whales, such as fin whale, humpback whale, blue whale or Bryde’s fin whale, are among the vulnerable species. Up to 65% of the whales have been able to suffer some kind of entrapment in their life, of which up to 20% die. In sperm whales, in addition, the ingestion of these wastes crushes their intestines and toothed whales usually ingest them when they play, explore or feed. In seals, plastics have been found in up to 11% of North Sea seals. The Baltic gray seals, for example, had a high content of PCBs, chemical and industrial products in their body,

In summary, in addition to the animals that die directly due to trapping or ingestion of pollutants , those that die more indirectly, due to damage accumulated over years or strandings, must be added.

Possible solutions to marine pollution

Possible solutions to marine pollution can be:

  • Reduction of emissions in means of transport.
  • Reduction or greater control of industrial discharges.
  • Control of agricultural activities to reduce discharges.
  • Dispose of, recycle or incinerate waste properly.
  • Filter the water.
  • Raise public awareness about their activities in the water.

Here we give more options of Solutions for water pollution .

If you want to read more articles similar to How water pollution affects marine animals , we recommend that you enter our Pollution category .

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Hello, I am a blogger specialized in environmental, health and scientific dissemination issues in general. The best way to define myself as a blogger is by reading my texts, so I encourage you to do so. Above all, if you are interested in staying up to date and reflecting on these issues, both on a practical and informative level.

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