Ocean pollution introduces foreign matter into the water bodies, which will have negative effects on marine life and marine activities. Our seas are always polluted each day; the major concern on this pollution is to know where does it come from and how it ends up. We have two major sources of pollutants in the oceans that is nonpoint source (NPS) pollution. This means the pollutant is devised, and it’s from many sources. The next source of the pollution is the point source solution with which the pollutant is from one specified source. Generally, human activities are the main pollutants in the ocean occurring in the coastal regions and also from the mainland. Wash away, and runoffs also make a lot of pollution in the oceans. The runoffs occur mainly from septic tanks, vehicle pollution, farm inputs and produce, livestock ranges, etc. Beside more effort put on waste management and control, waste products, and discharges from our manufacturing companies, water treatment areas are also considered as a major source of pollution in the oceans.
For instance, oil spills from ships, leakage of fuel pipes, tankers are affecting the oceans, the oils are difficult to eliminate, and they course a lot of damage like suffocating marine life. Ships also course noise pollution in the oceans bringing disturbance to marine animals; also, human waste, fuels as well as plastics discharged from ships also pollute the ocean. Extraction of metals from the basement of the sea during sea mining also pollutes the ocean, for instance, during the mining the soil particles float on the water and form a layer which will increase the turbidity of water affecting the apparatus used by marine animals. Also, during mining, chemicals are also emitted to the water, which mixes up affecting marine life. Having much interest in minerals course a lot of pollution the ocean, for instance, holes dung destroy the bottom o the sea. As stated earlier, human being activities are major sources of pollution. Although crops need to grow, the usage of fertilizers as farm input will definitely course the pollution, and the chemical used will not be fully utilized by the crop of which some will be washed away by rainwater into the rivers and eventually into the ocean. Once the water bodies, they attract the growth of marine crops while translates to pollution the ocean and also affects the fishing industry. As much as the inputs are being used, they should be utilized in the right matter with correct proportions to minimize the pollution or adopt other organic compounds. Nets left in the sea and oceans by fisheries also pollution the ocean. They also have a direct impact on marine animals since they restrict their movements hence starvation.
Factories wastes and discharges, which are mostly directed into rivers, is also a major concern. Garbage collection and control is a measure to be put in place for these companies to stop such behavior to eradicate the pollution. Most of these wastes are none bio-gradable like plastics; hence one they way into ocean brings a lot of defaults. It’s clear that most of the ocean pollution is these plastics anyhow dumped anywhere and find there the way to oceans. This is encouraged by the trade of plastics in some countries. They are later deposited on the sea shows looking like a dumpsite as a result of water waves wind and tides. Also, the litter from garbage patches on top the seawater forms of large debris on top of the water, thus making the sea look like land.
Marines animals such as whale swallow this kind of garbage like plastic bags thinking its prey and since its non-bio-gradable enter in the digestive system and thus clogging and blocking their digestive system coursing starvation and death to the marine animals due to the blocked digestive system which can’t allow passage of food. Also, we have a lot of deposits of garbage in the bottom of the sea of which also form deep-sea debris, these materials denser than water like glass metals and some plastics. Also, some of the water pollutions start as air pollution, for instance, vehicles exhaust and factory gas emissions into the air, some settle in the waterways, which later washed away by rainwater draining to the ocean hence the pollution.
Through the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, it is giving information on how ocean pollution is affecting the lives of human beings, economies, and communities, like through the Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring Systems gives directives to the community on whether to visit the beaches depending on the safety. Though to control the nonpoint source of pollution is very expensive, strategies and different methods are laid remedy to this pollution and should aim at safeguarding human health, promoting fishery and to conserve the environment of which these not the case mostly applied. So many state holders and agencies come together to come with correct methods and procedures of controlling the pollution. The correct measures should be taken. These could include proper garbage disposal, Sensitizing people on proper waste management (Monteiro, do Sul & Costa, 2018). Factories emitting and discharging the waste into the rivers and oceans should also have a wastage management system, more importantly, if possible to come up with the best procedure to be employed to recycle the waste into more usable product or way thus minimizing dumping the waste into the environment (Monteiro, Juliana and Monica 109).
References
Monteiro, R. C., do Sul, J. A. I., & Costa, M. F. (2018). Plastic pollution in islands of the Atlantic Ocean. Environmental Pollution, 238, 103-110.