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Effects of Marine Pollution on Sea Plants and Animals: Examining How Types of Human Pollution Harms Ocean Life

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Humans have been polluting the world's seas and oceans with different types of organic waste matter, oil, plastics, and even heat for many years. The harmful effects of marine pollution are not only harming sea life, but now are affecting humans because of the decreased food sources found in the oceans and by exposing humans to harmful chemicals that travel up the food chain.

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A staggering amount of waste - much of which has only existed for the past 60 years or so - enters the oceans each year.

Over 80% of marine pollution comes from land-based activities.

From plastic bags to pesticides - most of the waste we produce on land eventually reaches the oceans, either through deliberate dumping or from run-off through drains and rivers. This includes:

Oil
Oil spills cause huge damage to the marine environment - but in fact are responsible for only around 12% of the oil entering the seas each year. According to a study by the US National Research Council, 36% comes down drains and rivers as waste and runoff from cities and industry.

Fertilizers
Fertilizer runoff from farms and lawns is a huge problem for coastal areas. The extra nutrients cause eutrophication - flourishing of algal blooms that deplete the water's dissolved oxygen and suffocate other marine life.

Eutrophication has created enormous dead zones in several parts of the world, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Baltic Sea.

Seas of garbage
Solid garbage also makes its way to the ocean. Plastic bags, balloons, glass bottles, shoes, packaging material - if not disposed of correctly, almost everything we throw away can reach the sea.

Plastic garbage, which decomposes very slowly, is often mistaken for food by marine animals. High concentrations of plastic material, particularly plastic bags, have been found blocking the breathing passages and stomachs of many marine species, including whales, dolphins, seals, puffins, and turtles. Plastic six-pack rings for drink bottles can also choke marine animals.

This garbage can also come back to shore, where it pollutes beaches and other coastal habitats.

Sewage disposal
In many parts of the world, sewage flows untreated, or under-treated, into the ocean. For example, 80% of urban sewage discharged into the Mediterranean Sea is untreated.

This sewage can also lead to eutrophication. In addition, it can cause human disease and lead to beach closures.

Toxic chemicals
Almost every marine organism, from the tiniest plankton to whales and polar bears, is contaminated with man-made chemicals, such as pesticides and chemicals used in common consumer products.

Some of these chemicals enter the sea through deliberate dumping. For centuries, the oceans have been a convenient dumping ground for waste generated on land. This continued until the 1970s, with dumping at sea the accepted practise for disposal of nearly everything, including toxic material such as pesticides, chemical weapons, and radioactive waste.
Dumping of the most toxic materials was banned by the London Dumping Convention in 1972, and an amended treaty in 1996 (the London Convention) further restricted what could be dumped at sea. However, there are still the problems of already-dumped toxic material, and even the disposal of permitted substances at sea can be a substantial environmental hazard.

Chemicals also enter the sea from land-based activities. Chemicals can escape into water, soil, and air during their manufacture, use, or disposal, as well as from accidental leaks or fires in products containing these chemicals. Once in the environment, they can travel for long distances in air and water, including ocean currents.

People once assumed that the ocean was so large that all pollutants would be diluted and dispersed to safe levels. But in reality, they have not disappeared - and some toxic man-made chemicals have even become more concentrated as they have entered the food chain.

Tiny animals at the bottom of the food chain, such as plankton in the oceans, absorb the chemicals as they feed. Because they do not break down easily, the chemicals accumulate in these organisms, becoming much more concentrated in their bodies than in the surrounding water or soil. These organisms are eaten by small animals, and the concentration rises again. These animals are in turn eaten by larger animals, which can travel large distances with their even further increased chemical load.

Animals higher up the food chain, such as seals, can have contamination levels millions of times higher than the water in which they live. And polar bears, which feed on seals, can have contamination levels up to 3 billion times higher than their environment.

People become contaminated either directly from household products or by eating contaminated seafood and animal fats.

Evidence is mounting that a number of man-made chemicals can cause serious health problems - including cancer, damage to the immune system, behavioural problems, and reduced fertility.

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A staggering amount of waste - much of which has only existed for the past 60 years or so - enters the oceans each year. From plastic bags to pesticides - most of the waste we produce on land eventually reaches the oceans, either through deliberate dumping or from run-off through drains and rivers.

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Oceans are the largest water bodies on the planet Earth. Over the last few decades, surplus human activities have severely affected the marine life on the Earth's oceans. Ocean pollution, also known as marine pollution, is the spreading of harmful substances such as oil, plastic, industrial and agricultural waste and chemical particles into the ocean. Since oceans provide home to wide variety of marine animals and plants, it is responsibility of every citizen to play his or her part in making these oceans clean so that marine species can thrive for long period of time.

Mining for materials such as copper and gold is a major source of contamination in the ocean. For example, copper is a major source of pollutant in the ocean and can interfere with the life cycles of numerous marine organisms and life.

Causes of Ocean Pollution

There are various ways for how pollution enters the ocean:

1. Sewage: Pollution can enter the ocean directly. Sewage or polluting substances flow through sewage, rivers, or drainages directly into the ocean. This is often how minerals and substances from mining camps find their way into the ocean. The release of other chemical nutrients into the ocean's ecosystem leads to reductions in oxygen levels, the decay of plant life, a severe decline in the quality of the sea water itself. As a result, all levels of oceanic life, plants and animals, are highly affected.

2. Toxic Chemicals From Industries: Industrial and agricultural waste are another most common form of wastes that are directly discharged into the oceans, resulting in ocean pollution. The dumping of toxic liquids in the ocean directly affects the marine life as they are considered hazardous and secondly, they raise the temperature of the ocean, known as thermal pollution, as the temperature of these liquids is quite high. Animals and plants that cannot survive at higher temperatures eventually perish.

3. Land Runoff: Land runoff is another source of pollution in the ocean. This occurs when water infiltrates the soil to its maximum extent and the excess water from rain, flooding or melting flows over the land and into the ocean. Often times, this water picks up man-made, harmful contaminants that pollute the ocean, including fertilizers, petroleum, pesticides and other forms of soil contaminants. Fertilizers and waste from land animals and humans can be a huge detriment to the ocean by creating dead zones.

4. Large Scale Oil Spills: Ship pollution is a huge source of ocean pollution, the most devastating effect of which is oil spills. Crude oil lasts for years in the sea and is extremely toxic to marine life, often suffocating marine animals to death once it entraps them. Crude oil is also extremely difficult to clean up, unfortunately meaning that when it is split; it is usually there to stay.

In addition, many ships lose thousands of crates each year due to storms, emergencies, and accidents. This causes noise pollution (excessive, unexpected noise that interrupts the balance of life, most often caused by modes of transportation), excessive algae, and ballast water. Often times, other species can also invade an ecosystem and do harm to it by interrupting the life cycles of other organisms, causing a clash of nature that has already been damaged by the overflow of pollution.

5. Ocean Mining: Ocean mining in the deep sea is yet another source of ocean pollution. Ocean mining sites drilling for silver, gold, copper, cobalt and zinc create sulfide deposits up to three and a half thousand meters down in to the ocean. While we have yet the gathering of scientific evidence to fully explain the harsh environmental impacts of deep sea mining, we do have a general idea that deep sea mining causes damage to the lowest levels of the ocean and increase the toxicity of the region. This permanent damage dealt also causes leaking, corrosion and oil spills that only drastically further hinder the ecosystem of the region.

6. Littering: Pollution from the atmosphere is, believe it or not, a huge source of ocean pollution. This occurs when objects that are far inland are blown by the wind over long distances and end up in the ocean. These objects can be anything from natural things like dust and sand, to man-made objects such as debris and trash. Most debris, especially plastic debris, cannot decompose and remains suspended in the oceans current for years. Animals can become snagged on the plastic or mistake it for food, slowly killing them over a long period of time. Animals who are most often the victims of plastic debris include turtles, dolphins, fish, sharks, crabs, sea birds, and crocodiles.

In addition, the temperature of the ocean is highly affected by carbon dioxide and climate changes, which impacts primarily the ecosystems and fish communities that live in the ocean. In particular, the rising levels of Co2 acidify the ocean in the form of acid rain. Even though the ocean can absorb carbon dioxide that originates from the atmosphere, the carbon dioxide levels are steadily increasing and the ocean's absorbing mechanisms, due to the rising of the ocean's temperatures, are unable to keep up with the pace.

Effects of Ocean Pollution

1. Effect of Toxic Wastes on Marine Animals: Oil spill is dangerous to marine life in several ways. The oil spilled in the ocean could get on to the gills and feathers of marine animals, which makes it difficult for them to move or fly properly or feed their children. The long term effect on marine life can include cancer, failure in the reproductive system, behavioral changes, and even death.

2. Disruption to the Cycle of Coral Reefs: Oil spill floats on the surface of water and prevents sunlight from reaching to marine plants and affects in the process of photosynthesis. Skin irritation, eye irritation, lung and liver problems can impact marine life over long period of time.

3: Depletes Oxygen Content in Water: Most of the debris in the ocean does not decompose and remain in the ocean for years. It uses oxygen as it degrades. As a result of this, oxygen levels go down. When oxygen levels go down, the chances of survival of marine animals like whales, turtles, sharks, dolphins, penguins for long time also goes down.

4: Failure in the Reproductive System of Sea Animals: Industrial and agricultural wastes include various poisonous chemicals that are considered hazardous for marine life. Chemicals from pesticides can accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals, leading to failure in their reproductive system.

5: Effect on Food Chain: Chemicals used in industries and agriculture get washed into the rivers and from there are carried into the oceans. These chemicals do not get dissolved and sink at the bottom of the ocean. Small animals ingest these chemicals and are later eaten by large animals, which then affects the whole food chain.

6. Affects Human Health: Animals from impacted food chain are then eaten by humans which affects their health as toxins from these contaminated animals gets deposited in the tissues of people and can lead to cancer, birth defects or long term health problems.

Image credit:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hartlepooltramp/14124923435

https://www.flickr.com/photos/silkebaron/5113731103

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Causes and Effects of Ocean Pollution - Conserve Energy Future

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Oceans are the largest water bodies on the planet Earth. Over the last few decades, surplus human activities have severely affected the marine life on the Earth's oceans. Ocean pollution, also known as marine pollution, is the spreading of harmful substances such as oil, plastic, industrial and agricultural waste and chemical particles into the ocean.

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The entire Great Pacific Garbage Patch is bounded by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. An ocean gyre is a system of circular ocean currents formed by the Earth's wind patterns and the forces created by the rotation of the planet. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is created by the interaction of the California, North Equatorial, Kuroshiro, and North Pacific currents. These four currents move in a clockwise direction around an area of 20 million square kilometers (7.7 million square miles).

For many people, the idea of a "garbage patch" conjures up images of an island of trash floating on the ocean. In reality, these patches are almost entirely made up of tiny bits of plastic, called microplastics. Microplastics can't always be seen by the naked eye. Even satellite imagery doesn't show a giant patch of garbage. The microplastics of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can simply make the water look like a cloudy soup. This soup is intermixed with larger items, such as fishing gear and shoes.

About 80% of the debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from land-based activities in North America and Asia. Trash from the coast of North America takes about six years to reach the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, while trash from Japan and other Asian countries takes about a year.

The remaining 20% of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from boaters, offshore oil rigs, and large cargo ships that dump or lose debris directly into the water. The majority of this debris-about 705,000 tons-is fishing nets. More unusual items, such as computer monitors and LEGOs, come from dropped shipping containers.

While many different types of trash enter the ocean, plastics make up the majority of marine debris for two reasons. First, plastic's durability, low cost, and malleability mean that it's being used in more and more consumer and industrial products. Second, plastic goods do not biodegrade but instead break down into smaller pieces.

In the ocean, the sun breaks down these plastics into tinier and tinier pieces, a process known as photodegradation. Scientists have collected up to 750,000 bits of microplastic in a single square kilometer of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch-that's about 1.9 million bits per square mile. Most of this debris comes from plastic bags, bottle caps, plastic water bottles, and Styrofoam cups.

Marine debris can be very harmful to marine life in the gyre. For instance, loggerhead sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellies, their favorite food. Albatrosses mistake plastic resin pellets for fish eggs and feed them to chicks, which die of starvation or ruptured organ s.

Seals and other marine mammals are especially at risk. They can get entangled in abandoned plastic fishing nets, which are being discarded more often because of their low cost. Seals and other mammals often drown in these forgotten nets-a phenomenon known as " ghost fishing."

Marine debris can also disturb marine food webs in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. As microplastics and other trash collect on or near the surface of the ocean, they block sunlight from reaching plankton and algae below. Algae and plankton are the most common autotrophs, or producers, in the marine food web. Autotrophs are organisms that can produce their own nutrient s from oxygen, carbon, and sunlight.

If algae and plankton communities are threatened, the entire food web may change. Animals that feed on algae and plankton, such as fish and turtles, will have less food. If populations of those animals decrease, there will be less food for apex predators such as tuna, sharks, and whales. Eventually, seafood becomes less available and more expensive for people.

These dangers are compounded by the fact that plastics both leach out and absorb harmful pollutants. As plastics break down through photodegradation, they leach out colorants and chemicals, such as bisphenol A (BPA), that have been linked to environmental and health problems. Conversely, plastics can also absorb pollutants, such as PCBs, from the seawater. These chemicals can then enter the food chain when consume d by marine life.

Cleaning up marine debris is not as easy as it sounds. Many microplastics are the same size as small sea animals, so nets designed to scoop up trash would catch these creatures as well. Even if we could design nets that would just catch garbage, the size of the oceans makes this job far too time-consuming to consider. The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program has estimated that it would take 67 ships one year to clean up less than one percent of the North Pacific Ocean.

Many expeditions have traveled through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Charles Moore, who discovered the patch in 1997, continues to raise awareness through his own environmental organization, the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. During a 2014 expedition, Moore and his team used aerial drones, to assess from above the extent of the trash below. The drones determined that there is 100 times more plastic by weight than previous ly measured. The team also discovered more permanent plastic features, or islands, some over 15 meters (50 feet) in length.

All the floating plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch inspired National Geographic Emerging Explorer David de Rothschild and his team at Adventure Ecology to create a large catamaran made of plastic bottles: the Plastiki . The sturdiness of the Plastiki displayed the strength and durability of plastics, the creative ways that they can be repurposed, and the threat they pose to the environment when they don't decompose. In 2010, the crew successfully navigate d the Plastiki from San Francisco, California, to Sydney, Australia.

Scientists and explorers agree that limiting or eliminating our use of disposable plastics and increasing our use of biodegradable resources will be the best way to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Organizations such as the Plastic Pollution Coalition and the Plastic Oceans Foundation are using social media and direct action campaigns to support individuals, manufacturers, and businesses in their transition from toxic, disposable plastics to biodegradable or reusable materials.

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oil rig

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complex series of machinery and systems used to drill for oil on land.

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National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration

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National Geographic Society Producer Caryl-Sue

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The entire Great Pacific Garbage Patch is bounded by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. An ocean gyre is a system of circular ocean currents formed by the Earth's wind patterns and the forces created by the rotation of the planet. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is created by the interaction of the California, North Equatorial, Kuroshiro, and North Pacific currents.

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2005
Item
Plastic bag       657
Balloon             361
Plastic bottle    238
Paper item       160
Wrapper          140
Plastic item     117
Buoy                 112
Can                    81
Styrofoam Cup 65
Box                     42

2004
Plastic bag 443
Balloon 435
Paper  233
Plastic bottle 248
Cup  82
Buoy 59
Plastic wrapper 54
Plastic item 47
Aluminum can 39
Plastic jug   22

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From the section Science & Environment

In the shallow waters of Gijon harbour, in northern Spain, a large, yellow fish cuts through the waves.

But this swimmer stands apart from the marine life that usually inhabits this port: there's no flesh and blood here, just carbon fibre and metal.

This is robo-fish - scientists' latest weapon in the war against pollution.

This sea-faring machine works autonomously to hunt down contamination in the water, feeding this information back to the shore.

Here in Spain, several are undergoing their first trials to see if they make the grade as future marine police.

"The idea is that we want to have real-time monitoring of pollution, so that if someone is dumping chemicals or something is leaking, we can get to it straight away, find out what is causing the problem and put a stop to it," explains Luke Speller, a senior scientist at the research division of BMT Group, a technology consultancy.

The company is part of the Shoal consortium, a European Commission-funded group from academia and business that has developed these underwater robots.

"At the moment, in harbours, they take samples about once a month," says Mr Speller.

"And in that time, a ship could come into the harbour, leak some chemicals somewhere, then it's gone, all the way up the coastline.

"The idea is that we will use robot fish, which are in the harbour all of the time, and constantly checking for pollution."

Inspired by nature

The fish, which measure about 1.5m-long, may be a little larger than their real-life counterparts, but their movements closely mimic them.

We can work in environments that are very weedy, and would usually snag up propellers
Dr Ian Dukes, University of Essex

Ian Dukes from the University of Essex - another partner in the consortium - says that nature was an obvious inspiration for their robot.

He explains: "Over millions of years, fish have evolved the ultimate hydrodynamic shape, and we have tried to mimic that in the robot.

"They swim just like fish; they are really quite agile and can change direction quickly, even in shallow water."

But the researchers say there are other advantages to a fishy design compared with some other autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

"Traditional robots use propellers or thrusters for propulsion," says Dr Dukes.

"What we're trying to do is use the fin of a fish to propel ourselves through the water.

"The fin does lend itself for a really useful tool in shallow waters especially where there is a lot of debris. We can work in environments that are very weedy, and would usually snag up propellers."

The fish use micro-electrode arrays to sense contaminants. In their current form they can detect phenols and heavy metals such as copper and lead, as well as monitor oxygen levels and salinity.

But the team has tried to build in flexibility.

Dr Speller explains: "We have designed it so you can pull out the chemical sensor unit, and put in different ones for something else, such as sulphates or phosphates, depending on the environment that you are monitoring," he explains.

Hunting party

One they've sniffed out a problem, the fish use artificial intelligence to hunt down the source of pollution.

What I'd also like to see is not just a single task robot, but robots that can multitask
Dr Luke Speller, BMT Group

They can work alone or in a team, communicating with each other using acoustic signals and they can continuously report back to the port.

The trials at Gijon have been designed to put all of this technology to the test to so they can finalise the design of their robots.

"When we have our prototype, then we'll know what needs to be done to make this a complete commercial system. We hope it could happen in the next few years," said Dr Speller.

"In the future, what I'd also like to see is not just a single task robot, but robots that can multitask - robots that can do search and rescue, monitoring for underwaters divers, at the same time as tracking pollution."

Water pollution is an expensive business.

The Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has estimated that in England and Wales alone, cost of water pollution in rivers, canals, lakes and coastal waters came to £1.3bn per annum.

But it may be some time before robotic fish become permanent fixtures in our waters.

Prototypes currently cost about £20,000 each, although Mr Speller says costs will drop once more are produced.

But battery life is also an obstacle. At the moment, the fish need to be recharged about every eight hours.

But, says Richard Harrington from the Marine Conservation Society, if the fish could overcome these barriers they could have a future.

He says: "Ports, harbours and estuaries can be challenging places to routinely monitor for pollutants, often with a lengthy time period between sampling and transport and laboratory time for analysis.

"A remotely operated device could be deployed quickly and simply in shallow water environments, enabling a rapid response for decision making and remedial action to be taken."

The Shoal consortium is formed of the BMT Group, the University of Essex, the Tyndall National Institute, the University of Strathclyde, Thales Safare and the Port Authority of Gijon.

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Robotic fish to patrol for pollution in harbours - BBC News

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From the section Science & Environment In the shallow waters of Gijon harbour, in northern Spain, a large, yellow fish cuts through the waves. But this swimmer stands apart from the marine life that usually inhabits this port: there's no flesh and blood here, just carbon fibre and metal.

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Smart Water Sensors to monitor water quality in rivers, lakes and the sea

February 24th, 2014 - Libelium

Libelium launched a Smart Water wireless sensor platform to simplify remote water quality monitoring. Equipped with multiple sensors that measure a dozen of the most relevant water quality parameters, Waspmote Smart Water is the first water quality-sensing platform to feature autonomous nodes that connect to the Cloud for real-time water control. Waspmote Smart Water is suitable for potable water monitoring, chemical leakage detection in rivers, remote measurement of swimming pools and spas, and levels of seawater pollution. The water quality parameters measured include pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), conductivity (salinity), turbidity, temperature and dissolved ions ( F-, Ca2+, NO3-, Cl-, Pb2+, I-, Cu2+, Br-, Ag+/S2-, BF4-).

The Waspmote Smart Water platform is an ultra low-power sensor node designed for use in rugged environments and deployment in Smart Cities in hard-to-access locations to detect changes and potential risk to public health in real time.
Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Water model
Waspmote may use cellular (3G, GPRS, WCDMA) and long range 802.15.4/ZigBee (868/900MHz) connectivity to send information to the Cloud, and can accommodate solar panels that charge the battery to maintain autonomy. Smart Water nodes are ready to deploy out of the box and sensor probes can be recalibrated or changed in the field, with kits provided by Libelium.

"Smart Water is an improvement on existing water quality control in terms of accuracy, efficiency, and low operational costs. For municipalities, water quality detection and monitoring systems have to be reliable, autonomous, and flexible," said David Gascón, CTO at Libelium. "With Waspmote, a full Smart Water solution is now available at a price point ten times less than current market solutions, for better management of water resources."
Applications:

Potable water monitoring: Common chemical parameters include pH, nitrates and dissolved oxygen. Measuring O2 (or DO) is an important gauge of water quality. Changes in dissolved oxygen levels indicate the presence of microorganisms from sewage, urban or agriculture runoff or discharge from factories. A right level of ORP minimizes the presence of microorganisms such as E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria. Levels of Turbidity below 1 NTU indicates the right purity of drinking water.

Chemical leakage detection in rivers: Extreme pH or low DO values signal chemical spills due to sewage treatment plant or supply pipe problems.

Swimming pool remote measurement: Measuring oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), pH and Cloride levels of water can determine if the water quality in swimming pools and spas is sufficient for recreational purposes.

Pollution levels in the sea: Measuring levels of temperature, salinity, pH, oxygen and nitrates gives feedback for quality-sensing systems in seawater.

Corrosion and limescale deposits prevention: By controlling the hardness of the water we can avoid the corrosion and limescale deposits in dishwashers and water treatment devices like heaters. Water hardness depends on: pH, temperature, conductivity, and Ca+/ Mg2+ concentrations.

Fish Tank Monitoring (Aquaculture/Aquaponics): Measuring the water conditions of aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks. Important values are pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and water temperature.

Hydroponics: Plants that take the nutrients directly from the water need a precise pH and Oxygen in water (DO) levels to get the maximum growth.

Smart Water Sensor Board + Probes for Waspmote OEM
Specific Ion Monitoring Applications:

Drinking water quality control: Calcium (Ca2+), Iodide (I-), Chloride (Cl-), Nitrate (NO3-), pH.

Agriculture water monitoring: Calcium (Ca2+), Nitrate (N03-), pH.

Swimming pools: Bromide (Br), Chloride (Cl-), Fluoride (F-), pH.

Waste water treatment: Cupric (Cu2+), Silver/Sulfide (Ag+/S2-), Lead (Pb2+), Fluoroborate (BF4-), pH.

Waspmote Smart Water Technical Characteristics:

Sensor probes measure more than 12 chemical and physical water quality parameters such as pH, nitrates (NO3), dissolved ions (F-, Ca2+, NO3-, Cl-, Pb2+, I-, Cu2+, Br-, Ag+/S2-, BF4-) dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity (salinity), oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), turbidity, temperature, etc. Pollutants can be detected and treated in real-time, to ensure good water quality over an entire water supply network. Extreme pH values may indicate chemical spills, treatment plant issues, or problems in supply pipes. Low levels of DO may indicate the presence of microorganisms due to urban/agricultural runoff or sewage spills. ORP measures how well water sanitization is working.

Waspmote transmits sensor readings to the Cloud via 3G, GPRS, or WCDMA cellular connections; in the case of several nodes located in the same zone, Waspmote sends values to the Meshlium Internet Gateway via long range RF bands 868MHz and 900MHz. Sensor data is available in real time, even from sensor nodes situated in remote locations.

CE / FCC / IC certification and quad-band cellular connectivity (850/900/1900/2100MHz).Waspmote supports any cellular connection provider, and is ready for deployment in any country in the world.

The new Smart Water sensors are available for both Waspmote lines:

Download the Smart Water Technical Guide.

Download the Smart Water Ions Technical Guide.

For more information about the Libelium's new Smart Water Sensors contact our Commercial Team.

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Smart Water Sensors to monitor water quality in rivers, lakes and the sea | Libelium

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Libelium launched a Smart Water wireless sensor platform to simplify remote water quality monitoring. Equipped with multiple sensors that measure a dozen of the most relevant water quality parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) conductivity (salinity), temperature and dissolved ions such as Ca2+, Cl-, I-.

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Your writers, editors, creators, and community deserve tools that make them fast and efficient. It's also important that they follow a process that leads to best practices, so that the CMS itself is training your team with every post as they onboard.

Grabbing social content, building listicles and slideshows - RebelMouse makes everything simple, clean, and easy for writers.

Analytics and Management Tools

But it's also important for you to manage your writers, see their performance, enable them to learn from each other, and help them become data driven. RebelMouse analytics provide you with a clear view of who is performing, what posts are working, and where that content is gaining traction.

We also have deep Google Analytics integration, so you can easily add in components, promos, third-party units, and ad units. But most importantly, as they're being added, they are set up in staged environments automatically, and the traffic performance from these tests can be traced back to impact on bounce rate, pages/session, session duration, number of shares, percent of shares per visit, and unique custom goals for your business.

You might have the feeling we could go on a bit longer. We could! This is a passion for us. Come talk to us and let's get growing together.

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After building the product for Huffington Post, and owning the product and engineering groups at AOL after we were acquired, it was clear to me there was a huge gap between what the current CMS offering gave the world and what the world needed. Five years later we are at scale, moving the needle and...

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"wired" irish river detects pollution in real time

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"Wired" Irish River Detects Pollution in Real Time

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Nature is going wireless, as scientists outfit rivers with sensors that detect spikes in pollution and can stream the information to data centers and cellphones.

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The lifelike robot fish, modeled after carp, are like "little labs" that can detect and transmit pollution data wirelessly, experts say. With video.

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Explore National Geographic. A world leader in geography, cartography and exploration.

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But such publicized events account for only a small part of the total amount of oil pollution in the oceans-and many of the other sources, such as automobile oil, go largely unnoticed, scientists say.
In fact, of the tens of millions of gallons of oil that enter North American oceans each year due to human activities, only 8 percent comes from tanker or oil pipeline spills, according to the 2003 book Oil in the Sea III by the U.S. National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, which is still considered the authority on oil-spill data.

Most oil pollution is "different than the pictures you see of beaches covered with tar and ducks getting stuck in it," said David Valentine, a biogeochemist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. ( Read more about how pollution harms the oceans.)

Here are three little-reported sources of oil that contribute to oil pollution in North American oceans.

Natural seeps of oil underneath the Earth's surface account for 60 percent of the estimated total load in North American waters and 40 percent worldwide, according to the National Academy of Sciences.

These leakages occur when oil-which is lighter than water-escapes into the water column from highly pressurized seafloor rock. ( Read about Gulf of Mexico seeps.)

Off Santa Barbara, California, some 20 to 25 tons of oil flows from seafloor cracks daily-making it one of the world's largest seeps.

Valentine, who studies the Santa Barbara seep, noted that much of the natural oil is consumed by ocean bacteria that have evolved to eat certain oil molecules. ( Read about how nature tackles oil spills.)

But in "places which don't have natural oil seeps and you come along with an oil spill or a sewer pipe that delivers [oil pollution], organisms have not had an opportunity to adapt and are going to respond differently," said John Farrington, dean emeritus and marine geochemist with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
2. Cars and Other Land Vehicles
A "pretty big issue," Valentine said, is the oil on roads and other surfaces that's flushed into the sea during rainstorms.

Most cars drip oil onto the ground, usually on impermeable concrete or asphalt, and that oil ends up trickling into the ocean. In drier places like California, the oil builds up on the asphalt and, when it finally rains, the water shuttles large amounts of oil into the ocean.

"We're doing a much better job than 40 or 50 years ago of recycling motor oil," Woods Hole's Farrington said. "You can find storm sewers around the nation that have stencils on them that say 'don't dump, it goes to the sea.' So there's less input in that regard."

But he notes that there are still a lot of cars and trucks contributing to the "dribble, dribble, dribble" effect of slow leaks that end up on asphalt and contribute to runoff pollution.

Not surprisingly, this sort of invisible pollution is more subtle than the Galveston Bay spill, which is much more localized and visible, Valentine noted.

Oil runoff from land is "complex in that it can hang around [in the ocean] and move between water and sediment, [which] makes it difficult to effectively track."

A hotly debated topic, he added, is what these constant pulses of oil are doing to the environment and its inhabitants. Scientists know that animals directly exposed to oil suffer health problems, but what's unknown is the impact of low, chronic oil exposures on wildlife, he said. (Related: " On 25th Exxon Valdez Anniversary, Oil Still Clings to Beaches.")

People operating recreational craft, such as Jet Skis and boats, sometimes spill oil into the ocean.

"It's usually operational error, human error or unpreparedness, [or] lack of education. A lot of time mostly it's just negligence," said Aaron Barnett, a boating program specialist at Washington Sea Grant, a state-federal partnership aimed at marine research and outreach across Washington State.

"It's just not on [boaters'] radar scope. They're there to have fun, it's leisure, it's recreation. ... That means that certain things don't get dealt with, like proper engine maintenance."

Barnett added that boat owners will top off their fuel tanks as they would a car, and on a hot day the fuel expands and escapes through a vent.

Just like land-based pollution, though, oil spills by recreational boats are "hard to track, because about 80 percent of oil spills go unreported, so there's really no way to know" on what scale this is happening, Barnett said.

Overall, he said, the Environmental Protection Agency "looks at the small-oil-spill problem as sort of like death by a thousand cuts."

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3 Surprising Sources of Oil Pollution in the Ocean

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But such publicized events account for only a small part of the total amount of oil pollution in the oceans-and many of the other sources, such as automobile oil, go largely unnoticed, scientists say.

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A new study on the amount of plastic pollution floating around the world's oceans found a lot of garbage but fewer small particles than researchers expected, raising new questions about how litter is interacting with the environment.

Scientists from the nonprofit advocacy group 5 Gyres published their findings this week in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE. The researchers collected plastic from parts of the ocean with nets and then used computer models to estimate the extent of the garbage problem worldwide.

They estimated that 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic, weighing 269,000 tons, is distributed across the ocean. While that's a lot of trash, researchers found only one-hundredth as many sand-size particles as their models had predicted.

Small plastic pieces have been a matter of much debate in recent months, because they are ingested by animals and can cause the death of fish, birds, and other creatures.

The new particles estimate is similar to that in a paper published in July in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That study found only 35,000 tons of small plastic particles, while the researchers had expected to find millions of tons.

Where all the plastic is going in the ocean is a mystery, the lead scientist of the July study, Andres Cozar Cabañas, told National Geographic then. ( Learn more about that study's surprising findings.)

Plastic production has quadrupled since the 1980s, and wind, waves, and sun break all that plastic into tiny bits.

"We don't know what this plastic is doing," Cozar said. "The plastic is somewhere-in the ocean life, in the depths, or broken down into fine particles undetectable by nets."

The 5 Gyres researchers noted on Wednesday that the plastic may be washing up on beaches or sinking down to the bottom quicker than expected. They also suspected "UV degradation, biodegradation, ingestion by organisms, [and] decreased buoyancy due to fouling organisms."

The scientists discovered that the amount of plastic was similar in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, which they found surprising "given that inputs are substantially higher in the northern than in the southern hemisphere," they wrote in the study. It suggests plastic may be moving around more easily than people previously thought, the researchers said.

Scientists have already noted that plastic in the ocean poses hazards to wildlife, from sea turtles to fish to corals. ( Learn about ways people are trying to clean up plastic pollution.)

Follow Brian Clark Howard on Twitter and Google+.

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5 Trillion Pieces of Ocean Trash Found, But Fewer Particles Than Expected

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A new study on the amount of plastic pollution floating around the world's oceans found a lot of garbage but fewer small particles than researchers expected, raising new questions about how litter is interacting with the environment. Scientists from the nonprofit advocacy group 5 Gyres published their findings this week in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE.

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Dolphins are top predators, meaning they feed at the top of the food chain. When chemical pollutants settle into seafloor sediments, they are absorbed by a variety of small organisms. Some of these creatures end up in the stomachs of bottom feeders, which, in turn, accumulate higher concentrations of the same contaminants in their body tissues. Every time the contaminants move up the food chain into a new predator, the concentration intensifies in a process called bio-magnification.

By the time the contaminants reach the adult dolphin population at the top of the food chain, the concentrations are severe - so much so that stranded dead dolphins are regularly handled and disposed of as hazardous waste. Pollutants also pass from one generation to the next. Through their milk, dolphin mothers transfer sub-lethal doses of harmful chemicals to newborns during a lactation period that may last up to two years.

In my study area off Los Angeles, California, it's not news when my research team spots dolphins (and sea lions) swimming in a mixture of trash and the oily remnants of urban runoff. Even in the face of increased environmental regulation and improved source control systems, dolphins still swim in the polluted water that washes down the city's storm drains, including all sorts of heavy metals and toxic compounds.

People tend to project human attributes on dolphins. We see them as carefree and joyful creatures that spend their lives cavorting in the waves, perhaps because of what we perceive to be a dolphin's ever-present smile. But I can't begin to count the times I've logged hours collecting data on coastal bottlenose dolphins feeding near a storm drain outflow, in water the color of dirt. And while they superficially appeared 'happy' and well to me, it didn't mean they were not somehow suffering the effects of exposure to pollutants.

This was something I couldn't see at the inception of my research here in California almost two decades ago. Only time and baseline data would reveal the truth. The more time I spent following dolphins in the wild, then scrolling through thousands of images of dolphin dorsal fins and bodies, the more I began to recognize that the creatures I was studying weren't doing so well after all.

I noticed signs of poor health in the form of lesions, spots and open sores on their bodies. I saw physical deformities like hunched backs, grotesque protuberances and spinal malformations. Nearly eighty percent of photo-identified individuals exhibited at least one type of dermal lesion and many had multiple types. Sea temperature and salinity have something to do with the presence of these lesions, and bacterial, viral and fungal infections are also at the top of the list, possibly correlated to bad water quality or contaminated prey.

There hadn't been many studies on skin diseases and physical deformities in dolphins, and nothing at all had been done on the topic on the West Coast of the United States prior to my work. The investigations conducted elsewhere suggested that these issues could be human-induced, likely in relation to poor water quality.

Surfing at Venice Beach or Malibu for an hour after a recent rainfall could literally make you sick. And dolphins are apex predators, roving all day long in these very same waters. In addition, we have frequent red tides, some of which are considered harmful algal blooms. These involve a species of phytoplankton which can be toxic to shellfish and other sea creatures and may cause severe respiratory problems in humans. We still don't know whether these harmful blooms are a natural occurrence, but in some areas there is increasing evidence of a link between their frequency and high nutrient loading caused by human activities.

One may care less about dolphins or want nothing to do with nature, like Woody Allen, who described his aversion to the outdoors by saying " Nature and I are two." I understand that there are different points of view on this subject, and I'm aware that biophilia (the innate love of nature) and biophobia (the fear of nature) both exist. But it really doesn't matter what any of us think. Dolphins are barometers of how our oceans are doing; if dolphins are sick, it means the ecosystem is probably sick, and we may get sick too.

After publishing my work on skin lesions and physical deformities on dolphins off California and hearing from many other scientists about how widespread and prevalent this issue was worldwide, I traveled with my husband to Florida to visit a colleague at the Duerr Laboratory for Marine Conservation. We chatted about our respective research, but the conversation quickly shifted to a discussion of persistent organic pollutants and endocrine disruptors, compounds that defy degradation and tend to bioaccumulate in dolphins. The latter are agricultural and industrial compounds like PCBs that, once ingested by an animal, behave like hormones in their endocrine system, damaging regular physiological functions. Scientists have become increasingly concerned about the effects of these chemicals in recent years, particularly in dolphins, where these substances are known to disrupt fertility, sexual development and behavior.

"Do you know about the dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon?" my friend asked.

"I've heard about them," I replied, "but I've never seen them."

I had read that a goodly percentage of bottlenose dolphins in the lagoon were affected by lobomycosis, a mycotic infection also found in humans, and by oral and genital tumors, of which I'd seen some grotesque images of online. Further, many dolphins had pneumonia, hepatitis, meningitis, and disorders of the nervous system. But I had no clue how dire the problem had become in the last few years.

While I was there, I decided to go and check the dolphins in the lagoon for myself.

The next morning, I slid my kayak into the murky waters of the Indian River Lagoon. My dog Burbank positioned himself comfortably on my husband Charlie's boat, as he had done many times before. We started paddling and there was no question from the smell and appearance that these were polluted waters. Freshwater discharges degrade water quality on an everyday basis, and the place was fertile ground for harmful algal blooms to flourish. As we paddled through the unmoving waters of this shallow estuarine ecosystem I tried, unsuccessfully, to imagine how this place might have been before industrialized agriculture came along and ruined it.

We met a couple of bottlenose, after kayaking almost three hours under a blistering sun, and I couldn't believe what I saw. The larger of the two dolphins surfaced next to me as the other moved away and disappeared. It was dreadful. It was as though this animal emerged from a horror movie. Grayish-white abnormal growths covered almost half of its ulcerated body. Its skin had the consistency of cauliflower. The disfigured dolphin glanced at me, paused for a moment, then dove. And that was all I saw of it...

A better understanding of the possible causes underlying these skin lesions in dolphins is key not only to estimate the prevalence and extent of these diseases in wild populations but also to monitor marine pathogens that might have potentially harmful effects on us all.

Original peer-reviewed scientific paper cited in this article: Bearzi, M et al. 2009. Skin lesions and physical deformities of coastal and offshore common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Santa Monica Bay and adjacent areas, California. Ambio 38(2):66-71 (http://www.oceanconservation.org/research/publications_pdf/skin_lesions_2009.pdf)
Read more on ongoing research on skin diseases in California at: http://www.oceanconservation.org/research/ladpone.htm#skin
For a review of skin diseases on cetaceans check: http://iwc.int/private/downloads/gqflq6t9wf4k4s0g4ogswc0c/SC-60-DW8.pdf
This article has been partially adapted from the book Dolphin Confidential: Confessions of a Field Biologist (Chicago University Press, 2012). Sketches are also from the same book.
Maddalena Bearzi has studied the ecology and conservation of marine mammals for over twenty-five years. She is President and Co-founder of the Ocean Conservation Society, and Co-author of Beautiful Minds: The Parallel Lives of Great Apes and Dolphins (Harvard University Press, 2008; paperback 2010). She also works as a photo-journalist and blogger for several publications. Her most recent book is Dolphin Confidential: Confessions of a Field Biologist(Chicago University Press, 2012).

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Duerr Laboratory for Marine Conservation

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Parallel Lives of Great Apes and Dolphins

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They Aren't Always Smiling: Skin Lesions and Deformities Plague Wild Dolphins

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Dolphins are top predators, meaning they feed at the top of the food chain. When chemical pollutants settle into seafloor sediments, they are absorbed by a variety of small organisms. Some of these creatures end up in the stomachs of bottom feeders, which, in turn, accumulate higher concentrations of the same contaminants in their body tissues.

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If you're worried about the effects of ocean pollution on marine life, you are not alone. The increase of pollutants in the world's oceans is effecting the variety of creatures that live there.

Various Pollutants

There are many of types of ocean pollutants that endanger marine life. Some of them are more obvious than others, but all contribute to an unhealthy ocean and many times, the death of its creatures.

Effects of Oil on the Ocean

Although the big oil spills from offshore drilling get a lot of attention, there are millions of gallons of oil dumped into the world's oceans every year from other sources.

A National Research Council report narrows oil in the ocean to four types:

Natural seeps

Petroleum extraction

Petroleum transportation

Petroleum consumption

Oil is dangerous to marine life in several ways. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), if fur-bearing mammals or birds get oil on their fur or feathers, they may not fly or move properly, maintain body temperature, or feed. The oil washes up on beaches and contaminates nesting areas and feeding grounds. As marine mammals try to clean themselves, they may ingest oil which can poison them.

Although fish and shellfish aren't impacted immediately, long-term exposure may lead to organ damage, reduced growth, reduced respiration, and may adversely impact reproduction and larva development and survival.

Coral Reef Impact

Oil may impact coral reefs in a negative way. These reefs are not only beautiful, they provide a habitat for many sea creatures. NOAA indicates the impact of oil on coral reefs is difficult to predict. Oil also clogs up the gills of the fish that live there and suffocates them. When oil floats on the surface, it blocks sunlight and prevents marine plants from using light for photosynthesis. These plants are important parts of the food chain and the reef habitats found in the oceans.

Toxic Materials

Toxic materials are a side effect of modern living. Sea Web reports that, thanks to water's solvency, toxic pollution often ends up in the ocean, sediment, and the sea surface micro-layer. Toxic pollution sources include:

Industry and sewage waste discharge

Pesticides

Air emissions

Plutonium processing

Nuclear power plants

Nuclear waste dumps

Nuclear submarines

Household cleaning products

Pollutants find their way into the ocean and sink to the bottom. Bottom feeding organisms ingest these chemicals and contaminates the food chain. The smaller fish is eaten by the larger fish, which is then eaten by a human. Toxins build up in the tissues of the people who eat the contaminated fish and may lead to illnesses like cancer, reproductive disorders, birth defects, and other long-term health problems. The National Resources Defense Council offers a guide to fish you should be avoided due to high mercury and PCB content.

Trash and Other Debris

Plastic bags, balloons, medical waste, soda cans, and milk cartons all find their way into the oceans of the world. These items float in the water and wash up on beaches. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, marine debris creates health hazards for marine life.

Ocean mammals get entangled in old nets and drown because they cannot get to the surface for air. Birds, turtles, and fish ingest a variety of plastic items and their digestive systems become clogged. Sea turtles are attracted to floating plastic bags which appear to be jellyfish, one of their favorite treats. The plastic bags block their digestive system and cause a slow and painful death.

Various pieces of trash cause entanglement, starvation, drowning, and strangulation. When the trash washes up onto beaches and into marshes and wetlands, it ruins breeding grounds and habitats. Marine plants may be strangled by debris and die. Debris removal efforts may alter ecosystems.

How much plastic is in the ocean? Fortune reports there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in oceans around the world and 8 million tons being added to that number each year.

Statistics on the Effects of Ocean Pollution

Statistics on the effects of ocean pollution on fish and other marine life are difficult to determine because of the number of animals involved and the size of the ocean. Scientifically, there are many unknowns. However, there have been some interesting studies done in small areas of the ocean and test groups of marine life.

Elliott Norse, president of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute, found plastic in the stomachs of 300 Albatross chicks on Midway Island, 1600 km from the nearest land.

According to a report published in the Review of Research Journal, the Marine Academy's Oceanography website reports "there are over 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in each square mile of ocean off of the Northeast coast of the United States." The plastic contributes to the death of millions of sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals each year.

A Center for Biological Diversity report states that within a year of the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, 82,000 birds of 102 species were likely harmed or killed. In addition, approximately 6,165 sea turtles, 25,900 marine mammals, and an unknown number of fish were harmed or killed. As of mid-June, 2010, the spill contributed to the death of 658 sea birds, 279 sea turtles, 36 sea mammals, and countless fish.

According to a New York Times report, on one Galapagos Island, the numbers a rare species of iguana dropped to 10,000 from 25,000 after an oil spill off the coast of those islands in 2001.

Research Helps Protect Ocean Life

The amount of research done by marine biologists, environmentalists, and others is staggering. There is worldwide concern over the growing problem of ocean and other water pollution and no clear and easy resolution to the problem in sight. The oceans are an important part of the earth's environment, and it is imperative they are protected and kept clean to protect marine health and ultimately, human health.

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Effects of Ocean Pollution on Marine Life

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If you're worried about the effects of ocean pollution on marine life, you are not alone. The increase of pollutants in the world's oceans is effecting the variety of creatures that live there. There are many of types of ocean pollutants that endanger marine life.

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Stephen Palumbi: Following the mercury trail
There's a tight and surprising link between the ocean's health and ours, says marine biologist Stephen Palumbi. He shows how toxins at the bottom of the ocean food chain find their way into our bodies, with a shocking story of toxic contamination from a Japanese fish market. His work points a way forward for saving the oceans' health - and humanity's:

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Capt. Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - an endless floating waste of plastic trash. Now he's drawing attention to the growing, choking problem of plastic debris in our seas:

Runoff and Pollution

Although the ocean covers two-thirds of the surface of the Earth, it is surprisingly vulnerable to human influences such as overfishing, pollution from run-off, and dumping of waste from human activity. This kind of pollution can have serious economic and health impacts by killing marine life and damaging habitats and ecosystems. Toxins from pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals used on farms contaminate nearby rivers that flow into the ocean, which can cause extensive loss of marine life in bays and estuaries leading to the creation of dead zones. The dumping of industrial, nuclear and other waste into oceans was legal until the early 1970's when it became regulated; however, dumping still occurs illegally everywhere.

" Environmental chemicals and cancer By Kristan Aronson, PhD for the David Suzuki Foundation
" Thousands of gallons of raw sewage spill into San Marcos Creek...

Ocean Dumping

Governments world-wide were urged by the 1972 Stockholm Conference to control the dumping of waste in "their oceans" by implementing new laws. The United Nations met in London after this recommendation to begin the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter which was implemented in 1975. The International Maritime Organization was given responsibility for this convention and a Protocol was finally adopted in 1996, a major step in the regulation of ocean dumping.

Waste in the Ocean
EPA seeks to clean up DDT-tainted site off Palos Verdes Peninsula

The most toxic waste material dumped into the ocean includes dredged material, industrial waste, sewage sludge, and radioactive waste. Dredging contributes about 80% of all waste dumped into the ocean, adding up to several million tons of material dumped each year. Rivers, canals, and harbors are dredged to remove silt and sand buildup or to establish new waterways. About 20-22% of dredged material is dumped into the ocean. The remainder is dumped into other waters or landfills and some is used for development. About 10% of all dredged material is polluted with heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, and chromium, hydrocarbons such as heavy oils, nutrients including phosphorous and nitrogen, and organochlorines from pesticides. Waterways and, therefore, silt and sand accumulate these toxins from land runoff, shipping practices, industrial and community waste, and other sources. When these materials find their way into the ocean, marine organisms suffer toxic effects and seafood is often contaminated.

When "pure" dredged material is dumped into the ocean, fisheries suffer adverse affects such as unsuccessful spawning in herring and lobster populations where the sea floor is covered in silt.

Industrial Waste

In the 1970s, 17 million tons of industrial waste was legally dumped into the ocean. In the 1980's, 8 million tons were dumped including acids, alkaline waste, scrap metals, waste from fish processing, flue desulphurization, sludge, and coal ash.

Sewage Sludge

If sludge from the treatment of sewage is not contaminated by oils, organic chemicals and metals, it can be recycled as fertilizer for crops.

It is cheaper for treatment centers to dump this material into the ocean, particularly if it is chemically contaminated. The UN policy is that properly treated sludge from cities does not contain enough contaminants to be a significant cause of eutrophication (an increase in chemical nutrients-typically compounds containing nitrogen or phosphorus-in an ecosystem) or to pose any risk to humans if dumped into the ocean. The peak of sewage dumping was 18 million tons in 1980, a number that was reduced to 12 million tons in the 1990s.

Radioactive Waste

Radioactive waste is also dumped in the oceans and usually comes from the nuclear power process, medical use of radioisotopes, research use of radioisotopes and industrial uses. The difference between industrial waste and nuclear waste is that nuclear waste usually remains radioactive for decades. The protocol for disposing of nuclear waste involves special treatment by keeping it in concrete drums so that it doesn't spread when it hits the ocean floor. The dumping of radioactive material has reached a total of about 84,000 terabecquerels (TBq), a unit of radioactivity equal to 10 ¹² atomic disintegrations per second or 27.027 curies. Curie (Ci) is a unit of radioactivity. One curie was originally defined as the radioactivity of one gram of pure radium. In 1953, scientists agreed that the curie would represent exactly 3.7 x 10 ¹⁰ atomic disintegrations per second, or 37 gigabecquerels (GBq), this being the best estimate of the activity of a gram of radium. The unit is named for Pierre and Marie Curie who discovered radium. The high point of nuclear waste dumping was in 1954 and 1962, but this nuclear waste only accounts for 1% of the total TBq that has been dumped in the ocean. The concentration of radioactive waste in the concrete drums varies as does the danger to marine life and humans.

The Problems with Ocean Dumping

Although policies on ocean dumping in the recent past took an "out of sight- out of mind" approach, it is now known that accumulation of waste in the ocean is detrimental to marine and human health. Another unwanted effect is eutrophication. A biological process where dissolved nutrients cause oxygen-depleting bacteria and plants to proliferate creating a hypoxic, or oxygen poor, environment that kills marine life. In addition to eutrophication, ocean dumping can destroy entire habitats and ecosystems when excess sediment builds up and toxins are released. Although ocean dumping is now managed to some degree, and dumping in critical habitats and at critical times is regulated, toxins are still spread by ocean currents. Alternatives to ocean dumping include recycling, producing less wasteful products, saving energy and changing the dangerous material into more benign waste.

According to the United Nations Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution, the amount of ocean dumping actually brings in less pollution than maritime transportation, atmospheric pollution, and land based pollution like run-off. However, when waste is dumped it is often close to the coast and very concentrated.

Waste dumped into the ocean is categorized into the black list, the gray list, and the white list. On the black list are organohalogen compounds, mercury compounds and pure mercury, cadmium compounds and pure cadmium, any type of plastic, crude oil and oil products, refined petroleum and residue, highly radioactive waste, any material made for biological or chemical warfare.

The gray list includes water highly contaminated with arsenic, copper, lead, zinc, organosilicon compounds, any type of cyanide, flouride, pesticides, pesticide by-products, acids and bases, beryllium, chromium, nickel and nickel compounds, vanadium, scrap metal, containers, bulky wastes, lower level radioactive material and any material that will affect the ecosystem due to the amount in which it is dumped.

The white list includes all other materials not mentioned on the other two lists. The white list was developed to ensure that materials on this list are safe and will not be dumped on vulnerable areas such as coral reefs.

Issues associated with Ocean Dumping

Incineration has been used to control dangerous chemical waste being dumped into the Ocean. This practice began in 1969 and became very popular by the late 1970's. By the mid-1980's, about 100,000 tons of waste was incinerated before it was dumped. This process has been studied to determine whether the practice is safe and effective. When dangerous waste is burned, it can produce smoke full of hazardous chemicals and may possibly spill into the ocean. After thorough evaluation, it was determined in 1989 that incineration is not a viable method of reducing the amount of waste dumped into the ocean because of the smoke released, and therefore, almost all the waste burning vessels were grounded. The Protocol of 1996 banned burning waste at sea altogether.

The majority of nuclear waste in the ocean comes from six submarine reactors, one nuclear icebreaker reactor, and damaged nuclear fuel in the Kara Sea. The rest of the nuclear material in the ocean is solid nuclear waste in concrete drums.

Although some claim the risk to human health is small, the long-term affects of nuclear dumping are not known, and some estimate up to 1,000 deaths in the next 10,000 years as a result of evaporated nuclear waste.

In 1995, a Global Waste Survey and the National Waste Management Profiles inventoried waste dumped worldwide to determine what countries were dumping waste and how much was going into the ocean. Countries that exceeded an acceptable level would then be assisted in the development of a workable plan to dispose of their waste.

The impact of a global ban on ocean dumping of industrial waste was determined in the Global Waste Survey Final Report the same year. In addition to giving the impact for every nation, the report also concluded that the unregulated disposal of waste, pollution of water, and buildup of materials in the ocean were serious problems for a multitude of countries. The report also concluded that dumping industrial waste anywhere in the ocean is like dumping it anywhere on land. The dumping of industrial waste had reached unacceptable levels in some regions, particularly in developing countries that lacked the resources to dispose of their waste properly. Enforcement of regulations was also a problem in these areas, so it was necessary to assist the countries in the implementation of a waste disposal strategy.

Areas where high levels of illegal dumping occur are commonly areas that have no way of implementing a better strategy. A global ban on ocean dumping is not enough to eliminate the practice, and it will require all governments to have a workable plan to reduce the amount of waste, recycle some waste, and learn how to modify waste that is dumped into the ocean so it is less harmful.

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Help Protect and Restore Ocean Life

Help us protect and restore marine life by supporting our various online community-centered marine conservation projects that are effectively sharing the wonders of the ocean with millions each year around the world, raising a balanced awareness of the increasingly troubling and often very complex marine conservation issues that affect marine life and ourselves directly, providing support to marine conservation groups on the frontlines that are making real differences today, and the scientists, teachers and students involved in the marine life sciences.

Join us today or show your support with a monthly donation.

With your support, most marine life and their ocean habitats can be protected, if not restored to their former natural levels of biodiversity. We sincerely thank our thousands of members, donors and sponsors, who have decided to get involved and support the MarineBio Conservation Society.

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Help Protect and Restore Ocean Life Help

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Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes

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Stephen Palumbi: Following the mercury trail There's a tight and surprising link between the ocean's health and ours, says marine biologist Stephen Palumbi. He shows how toxins at the bottom of the ocean food chain find their way into our bodies, with a shocking story of toxic contamination from a Japanese fish market.

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A staggering amount of waste - much of which has only existed for the past 60 years or so - enters the oceans each year.

Over 80% of marine pollution comes from land-based activities.

From plastic bags to pesticides - most of the waste we produce on land eventually reaches the oceans, either through deliberate dumping or from run-off through drains and rivers. This includes:

Oil
Oil spills cause huge damage to the marine environment - but in fact are responsible for only around 12% of the oil entering the seas each year. According to a study by the US National Research Council, 36% comes down drains and rivers as waste and runoff from cities and industry.

Fertilizers
Fertilizer runoff from farms and lawns is a huge problem for coastal areas. The extra nutrients cause eutrophication - flourishing of algal blooms that deplete the water's dissolved oxygen and suffocate other marine life.

Eutrophication has created enormous dead zones in several parts of the world, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Baltic Sea.

Seas of garbage
Solid garbage also makes its way to the ocean. Plastic bags, balloons, glass bottles, shoes, packaging material - if not disposed of correctly, almost everything we throw away can reach the sea.

Plastic garbage, which decomposes very slowly, is often mistaken for food by marine animals. High concentrations of plastic material, particularly plastic bags, have been found blocking the breathing passages and stomachs of many marine species, including whales, dolphins, seals, puffins, and turtles. Plastic six-pack rings for drink bottles can also choke marine animals.

This garbage can also come back to shore, where it pollutes beaches and other coastal habitats.

Sewage disposal
In many parts of the world, sewage flows untreated, or under-treated, into the ocean. For example, 80% of urban sewage discharged into the Mediterranean Sea is untreated.

This sewage can also lead to eutrophication. In addition, it can cause human disease and lead to beach closures.

Toxic chemicals
Almost every marine organism, from the tiniest plankton to whales and polar bears, is contaminated with man-made chemicals, such as pesticides and chemicals used in common consumer products.

Some of these chemicals enter the sea through deliberate dumping. For centuries, the oceans have been a convenient dumping ground for waste generated on land. This continued until the 1970s, with dumping at sea the accepted practise for disposal of nearly everything, including toxic material such as pesticides, chemical weapons, and radioactive waste.
Dumping of the most toxic materials was banned by the London Dumping Convention in 1972, and an amended treaty in 1996 (the London Convention) further restricted what could be dumped at sea. However, there are still the problems of already-dumped toxic material, and even the disposal of permitted substances at sea can be a substantial environmental hazard.

Chemicals also enter the sea from land-based activities. Chemicals can escape into water, soil, and air during their manufacture, use, or disposal, as well as from accidental leaks or fires in products containing these chemicals. Once in the environment, they can travel for long distances in air and water, including ocean currents.

People once assumed that the ocean was so large that all pollutants would be diluted and dispersed to safe levels. But in reality, they have not disappeared - and some toxic man-made chemicals have even become more concentrated as they have entered the food chain.

Tiny animals at the bottom of the food chain, such as plankton in the oceans, absorb the chemicals as they feed. Because they do not break down easily, the chemicals accumulate in these organisms, becoming much more concentrated in their bodies than in the surrounding water or soil. These organisms are eaten by small animals, and the concentration rises again. These animals are in turn eaten by larger animals, which can travel large distances with their even further increased chemical load.

Animals higher up the food chain, such as seals, can have contamination levels millions of times higher than the water in which they live. And polar bears, which feed on seals, can have contamination levels up to 3 billion times higher than their environment.

People become contaminated either directly from household products or by eating contaminated seafood and animal fats.

Evidence is mounting that a number of man-made chemicals can cause serious health problems - including cancer, damage to the immune system, behavioural problems, and reduced fertility.

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A staggering amount of waste - much of which has only existed for the past 60 years or so - enters the oceans each year. From plastic bags to pesticides - most of the waste we produce on land eventually reaches the oceans, either through deliberate dumping or from run-off through drains and rivers.

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The oceans are so vast and deep that until fairly recently, it was widely assumed that no matter how much trash and chemicals humans dumped into them, the effects would be negligible. Proponents of dumping in the oceans even had a catchphrase: "The solution to pollution is dilution."

Today, we need look no further than the New Jersey-size dead zone that forms each summer in the Mississippi River Delta, or the thousand-mile-wide swath of decomposing plastic in the northern Pacific Ocean to see that this "dilution" policy has helped place a once flourishing ocean ecosystem on the brink of collapse.
Pollution's Many Forms
There is evidence that the oceans have suffered at the hands of mankind for millennia, as far back as Roman times. But recent studies show that degradation, particularly of shoreline areas, has accelerated dramatically in the past three centuries as industrial discharge and runoff from farms and coastal cities has increased.

Pollution is the introduction of harmful contaminants that are outside the norm for a given ecosystem. Common man-made pollutants that reach the ocean include pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, detergents, oil, sewage, plastics, and other solids. Many of these pollutants collect at the ocean's depths, where they are consumed by small marine organisms and introduced into the global food chain. Scientists are even discovering that pharmaceuticals ingested by humans but not fully processed by our bodies are eventually ending up in the fish we eat.

Many ocean pollutants are released into the environment far upstream from coastlines. Nitrogen-rich fertilizers applied by farmers inland, for example, end up in local streams, rivers, and groundwater and are eventually deposited in estuaries, bays, and deltas. These excess nutrients can spawn massive blooms of algae that rob the water of oxygen, leaving areas where little or no marine life can exist. Scientists have counted some 400 such dead zones around the world.

Solid waste like bags, foam, and other items dumped into the oceans from land or by ships at sea are frequently consumed, with often fatal effects, by marine mammals, fish, and birds that mistake it for food. Discarded fishing nets drift for years, ensnaring fish and mammals. In certain regions, ocean currents corral trillions of decomposing plastic items and other trash into gigantic, swirling garbage patches. One in the North Pacific, known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is estimated to be the size of Texas. A new, massive patch was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean in early 2010.
Noise Pollution
Pollution is not always physical. In large bodies of water, sound waves can carry undiminished for miles. The increased presence of loud or persistent sounds from ships, sonar devices, oil rigs, and even from natural sources like earthquakes can disrupt the migration, communication, hunting, and reproduction patterns of many marine animals, particularly aquatic mammals like whales and dolphins.
End of the "Dilution" Era
Humans are beginning to see the shortsightedness of the "dilution" philosophy. Many national laws as well as international protocols now forbid dumping of harmful materials into the ocean, although enforcement can often be spotty. Marine sanctuaries are being created to maintain pristine ocean ecosystems. And isolated efforts to restore estuaries and bays have met with some success.

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Marine Pollution -- Pristine Seas -- National Geographic

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The oceans are so vast and deep that until fairly recently, it was widely assumed that no matter how much trash and chemicals humans dumped into them, the effects would be negligible. Proponents of dumping in the oceans even had a catchphrase: "The solution to pollution is dilution."

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Ocean Pollution and Marine Mammals - BlueVoice.org

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Scientists are finding higher and higher levels of man-made chemicals in whales, dolphins and marine mammals. Whales, dolphins, seals and sea lions are suffering dramatic rises in deadly diseases. Support BlueVoice.org to save dolphins and whales and protect the oceans.

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Dolphins National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Effects of Marine Pollution Field Trip Ideas

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From greenhouse gases to littering, pollution from human activity impacts every square mile of the ocean and about 40 percent of marine ecosystems, according BlueVoice.org. Pollution has an impact on ...