Human Impact on the Ocean

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

--Ghandi

Factors harming the ocean• Plastics/Garbage• Oil spills • Waste disposal• Ships• Clear cutting the ocean floor• Overfishing• Climate change• Pollution• Noise Pollution

Plastics

• One-dimensional objects (line, rope, strapping bands)

• Two-dimensional objects (sheets, bags)• Reticulated (netting, six-pack rings)• Hollow-bodied (bottles, fishing floats) • Small particles (Styrofoam, pellets used in

making plastic objects) • Angular (boxes, crates)

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

• In the Pacific Ocean there exists a slowly moving spiral current called the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.

• Because of the spiral effect the largest landfill in the world has been built.

Video: Great Pacific Garbage Patch

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/23/oprah-shines-light-on-

gre_n_190552.html

Atlantic Canada Beluga Whale

• Between 1983 – 1999, 27 % of Beluga Whales in the St. Laurence River had cancer.

• Industrial pollution is the main cause. • Toxins from the industrial plants settle in the

rivers bottom and belugas dig in to feed exposing them to contamination.

• Now, St. Lawrence Beluga is protected under numerous Canadian Federal Acts.

Video: Beluga Whale

http://www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/video/belugas

Oil Spills

• Hypothermia: Oil can destroy the ability for fur-bearing mammals to stay warm.

• Poison: Animals ingest oil when trying to feed themselves.

Population At Risk

• Threatened Species: any species likely to become endangered.

• Endangered: the animal is soon to be extinct if precautions are not taken.

• Extinct: the species has completely died out.

How the ocean is being protected

• Marine Protected Areas: Area in the ocean where human activities are more strictly regulated.

• Marine Reserves: Area where activities that remove animals and plants or alter habitat are all prohibited.

• Marine World Heritage Sites: Iconic natural treasures known worldwide. (35 around the world).

Marine Protected Area:Basin Head Near Souris, PEI

Shallow coastal lagoon where unique type of Irish moss grows and is found nowhere else in the world.

Marine Protected Area: The GullyOff the coast of Nova Scotia

Submarine canyon with a rich diversity of marine species, including the bottlenose dolphin.

Halifax Harbour Solutions Project

• Dates back to late 1980s • Wanted to eliminate raw untreated sewage

being dumped into the Harbour. • Solution: Treatment plants in Halifax,

Dartmouth and Herring Cove