Marine Pollution is Rapidly Collecting and Killing Off Millions of Sea Life in Oceans

Large amounts of plastic pollution are collecting and forming large piles of trash on Kamilo Beach in Hawaii. (Photo website link: 11 Gorgeous yet hugely plastic polluted beaches around the world | Ourgoodbrands)

The lack of care towards the ocean and the extraordinary life in it are contaminating the water all around the world every day with pollution and is making it extremely difficult for marine life to live and thrive properly.

The actions of human beings are causing the accumulation of chemical and physical waste, such as pesticides, plastic and other non-degradable debris, which float around loosely in the water, causing huge garbage patches in the ocean to form and become larger everyday. However, pollution that doesn’t collect in these large areas end up on beaches or are mistakenly eaten by marine life. This disrupts major food chains throughout the ocean and can cause severe consequences to vital oceanic species.

Pollution in the ocean starts from various areas, but they all come from one major source, the poor actions and lack of care of human beings. Whether it’s littering or natural disasters inland or out on the coast, they all contribute to the collection of marine pollution and cause it to build up more and more each day, contaminating and damaging the water and lives of marine life. 

Most pollution that ends up in the ocean comes from human activities. Nonpoint source pollution, which typically forms due to runoffs, are one of the largest sources of marine pollution. This pollution can come from many different sources such as vehicles, lumbering areas and farms with livestock. Marine pollution and debris that comes from a singular source, such as an oil or chemical spill, are known as point source pollution. Unlike nonpoint source pollution, this type of contamination happens less often. However, when this kind of pollution does occur, the results to the ocean and the life in it are catastrophic. As the debris and trash accumulate more over time, climate change in the atmosphere will cause all of the debris to wash up on beaches. Some plastic may also sink and collect on the ocean floor, or it gets eaten by marine animals that think the solid trash is food. 

Plastic and chemical pollution can interrupt crucial food chains in the ocean, and they can also harm and kill major marine species. Large amounts of marine animals die from plastic indigestion and chemical waste every year, resulting in severe injuries towards sea life and significant decreases of populations in the ocean. These chemical and physical, nondegradable, pollution all accumulate in the ocean and if left untreated, it will collect, become larger and stay in these environments for years.

Oftentimes, the physical, nondegradable plastic pollution is accidentally consumed by marine animals because they think that the floating plastic is food. However, eating these plastics can lead to a stoppage in the intestines and a lack of proper nutrition for these animals. The large nets of plastic can also trap the sea animals, giving them large amounts of injuries and even deaths like drowning or starvation. The trash and debris is a very serious endangerment to the coral reefs as well because it can damage the formation of the reefs. The microplastics within the debris become part of the corals’ tissue, blocking and weakening the corals’ abilities. Chemical pollution in the ocean can also create harmful things such as algal blooms. These large “blooms” of algae are very toxic to animals and are even dangerous to humans. They also decrease oxygen levels in certain areas of the ocean, making that part completely uninhabitable for oceanic life. Unfortunately, this pollution causes serious complications towards the reproduction and genetic health of marine life and these problems can continue across generations if there is more contact with these dangerous chemicals and pollutants.