Marine Pollution

• Keystone species


  A species that has a disproportionate effect on the ecosystem relative to its abundance
• Kelp


  Use a holdfast tether
• Sargassum


  Float at the surface
• Rocky shorelines have more biomass than sandy shorelines
• Black smokers


  The hottest of the three hydrothermal vents
• Coral


  • Can be hard or soft (gorgonian)
  • Have a wide variety of shapes and sizes (columnar, branching, massive, plate like, foliaceous, free living)
  • Gorgonian coral (sea fan)
• Coral zonation


  Location of coral morphologies are dependent upon wave action, sunlight, and sediment runoff
• Types of reefs


  • Barrier Reef
  • Fringing Reef
  • Atolls
  • Patch Reef
• Atoll formation


  1. Subsidence of volcanic island

  2. Fringing reef

  3. Barrier reef

  4. Atoll
• Coral diversity tends to be highest on the western side of each ocean basin
• Coral diversity is so high in the Indo-Pacific due to the Coral Triangle
• Coral symbiosis


  • Corals provide protection for the zooxanthellae
  • The zooxanthellae produces food for the coral
  • The algae undergoes photosynthesis
  • An example of mutualism
• Coral bleaching


  • Corals release their algae and their white calcium carbonate skeleton is exposed
  • Occurs from a sudden change in the environment (temperature, salinity, etc.)
  • Corals can recover after bleaching if the environment returns to normal, otherwise the corals die
• Typically changes in temperature are the problem for coral bleaching
• El Nino event killed 70% of corals in Pacific coast of Central America
• Deep sea corals


  • Some corals exist in the deep ocean without sunlight
  • Can be soft or hard corals
  • Contain no symbionts
  • No available sunlight
  • Extremely slow growth
  • Threatened by deep sea trawling
• Fighting corals


  • Corals become active at night
  • Can't move so they developed defensive and offensive mechanisms (outgrow/shade other corals, sweeper tentacles, coral cannibalism, toxins)
• Outgrowing or shading


  • Corals can cover other corals and prevent them from getting sunlight
  • Or simply grow faster than others
• Sweeper Tentacles


  • Use elongated tentacles to fight other corals
  • Contains a nematocyst
• Nematocysts


  • Uses a hairlike projection as the trigger
  • Sends out a barb that contains toxins within the thread
  • Cause the victim to experience the stinging pains
• Coral cannibalism


  Corals use mesenterial filaments (portions of the corals stomach containing many nematocysts) to digest other nearby corals
• Ways humans rely on the oceans

  • Recreation
  • Water source
  • Inexpensive transportation (shipping)
  • Food source
  • Biological resources (drug development, oils, etc.)
  • Geological resources used in manufacturing
  • ENERGY – petroleum oil, natural gas, etc.
  • Waste disposal
• Pollution


  The addition of substances to, or alteration of the oceanic system in a manner that is deleterious to the ocean ecosystem or its resources
• Pollution does not refer to aesthetics, it must cause harm over relevant timescales to humans or organisms
• Pollution can be any harmful substance/energy, not just chemicals/things
• Sources of marine pollution


  • Petroleum/oil/gas
  • Non-point source pollutants
  • Runoff and storm drains
  • Trash
  • Sewage
  • DDT (pesticides) and PCBs (coolant)
  • Mercury and other metals
  • Inorganic nutrients
• Bioassays


  • Environmental bioassay - a carefully controlled experiment that determines how a particular pollutant affects marine organisms
  • Helps us figure out how much pollutant is necessary to cause a detrimental effect
• US Environmental Protection Agency does these kinds of bioassays, and this data is used to set limits on how much pollutant is safe to release
• Limitations of bioassays


  • Have to kill organisms in the lab
  • Does not predict long-term effects (timescale of experiment only)
  • Cannot assess how negative effects of multiple pollutants can combine
  • Specific to a single organism, but no time to test every organism
• Eutrophication leads to increased "dead zones" and harmful algal blooms (HABs)
• Higher turbidity means less sunlight reaches the seafloor, which can limit plant life and harm corals
• Sound and light pollution


  • Sonar/seismic devices can harm marine animals by altering their behavior
  • Light pollution can distract or disorient animals like migratory marine birds and sea turtles
• Invasive species


  Many invasive species are introduced by humans and have no natural predators, which can destroy an ecosystem
• Marine debris


  • Any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the Great Lakes
  • Up to 80% of marine debris is plastic
• Sound and Light Pollution


  • Sonar/seismic devices can harm marine animals
  • Can alter the behavior of marine organisms
  • Whale strandings
  • Affect communication
  • Echolocation
• Light pollution


  • Can distract or disorient animals
  • LED lights penetrate further into the ocean
  • Prevent migratory marine birds from landing
  • Disorient sea turtles
  • Female turtles may not beach to lay eggs
  • Hatchlings may head inland instead of towards the moon (ocean)
• Invasive Species


  Have no natural predators and can destroy an ecosystem
• Marine Debris


  Any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the Great Lakes
• Where is marine debris found?

  • Floating on the water surface
  • Mixed throughout the water column
  • On the seabed
  • As much as 70% sinks to the bottom of the ocean
• Up to 80% of marine debris is plastic