What is Ocean Pollution?

What is Ocean Pollution

Before we delve into the specifics of ocean pollution we should first ask ourselves what ocean pollution is. Ocean pollution (also known as Marine Debris) is when various types of debris such as plastic, chemicals and oils are:

  • Washed up with the tides

  • Washed up in the waves

  • And sunked into the depths of the ocean

Microplastics and various types of waste such as oil, mercury, and pesticides end up in marine animals and ultimately aid in the contamination of numerous bodies of water surrounding the United States.

Satistics

8 Million

Pieces of plastic pollution make their way into our oceans daily

5.25 Trillion

Pieces of plastic waste are estimated to be our oceans today

100,000

Marine animals die each year from Oceanic Pollution

So what does it do to animals and how does ocean pollution effect our ecosystem?

Animals can become injured

Numerous large plastics and micro plastics can either trap or puncture animals which can sufforcate marine animals or injure them so badly that they can end up dying from their injuries


Animals can ingest these microplastics

The numerous amounts of microplastics in the ocean are typically ingested by marine animals which ends up making them very ill. This comes from the toxic chemicals that come from microplastics as well as industrial oils.

Ecosystem continues to decline

The release of other chemical nutrients into the ocean's ecosystem leads to reductions in oxygen levels, the decay of plant life, and a severe decline in the quality of seawater itself. As a result, all levels of oceanic life, plants and animals, are majorly affected.