www wcc hawaii edu What is pollution Pollution

www. wcc. hawaii. edu

What is pollution? • Pollution is harmful material not native to the environment that is present in large quantity • Pollutants cause damage to organisms • Reach oceans by: • Dumping • Loss from ships • From air via rain • From rivers

Marine Pollutants • • Petroleum hydrocarbons Plastics Pesticides Heavy metals Sewage Radioactive waste Thermal effluents

Petroleum Hydrocarbons Oil drums on a beach in Pulau Redang, Malaysia.

Petroleum Hydrocarbons Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge 100, 000 gallons jet fuel spilled 2003.

Exxon Valdez (1989)- Prince William Sound, Alaska • 10 million gallons of oil spilled • 400 miles of shore line affected • $3 billion and 2 summers cleaning

Persian Gulf War (1991) • 240 million gallons of oil spilled

BP offshore drilling rig (Deepwater Horizon) April 20, 2010; 50 miles off Louisiana Spilling 5, 000 barrels/day = 200, 000 gal/day

Containing oil spills: • Floating booms- contain oil and then pump into other ship • Burning oil off • Chemical dispersants • Bioremediation- bacteria

Relative amounts of petroleum in the ocean: River runoff Tanker operations Coastal facilities Atmospheric fallout Natural seepage Other transportation activities Tanker accidents Offshore petroleum production 31. 1% 21. 8% 13. 1% 9. 8% 3. 3% 1. 3%

Plastics • • 100, 000 marine mammals & 2 million sea birds die each year after ingesting or being trapped in plastic debris WHOI 1987 survey off N. E. coast of U. S. : found 46, 000 pieces of plastic floating on surface

North Pacific Subtropical Gyre • “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” • Estimate: 46, 000 pieces of floating garbage/mi 2.

North Pacific Subtropical Gyre http: //www. marineinsight. com/marine/environment/what-is-the-pacific-ocean-garbage-patch/

Laysan Island

A dead Laysan Albatross chick with seven bottle tops in its gullet. Adult Albatross feed on flying fish eggs that the adult fish attach to floating debris.

Japan Tsunami 2011 Prediction of Marine Debris Drifting Trajectories Hawaii http: //www. hawaii 247. com/2011/04/07/tsunami-2011 -japan-debris-likely-to-hit-hawaii-twice/

Pesticides & Herbicides • Designed to kill a variety of pests, such as mosquitoes, agricultural pests and weeds. • Toxin enters food chain and effects non targeted species • Pesticide toxicity often affects human health Bioaccumulation biomagnification

Biomagnification

Toxic Metals Hg, Pb, Cd, Cu Heavy metals resist biodegradation Natural occurrence- volcanoes • Mercury (Hg)- toxic when attached to short carbonchain alkyl group, strongly neurotoxic, birthdefects • Lead (Pb)- from batteries, sewage, fuel additives, neurotoxic effects, mental development in children • Cadmium (Cd)- from batteries, sewage, electroplating factories, effects on human kidney function, bone deformities

Point Source Pollution Sewage • Causes disease outbreaks • Contributes to eutrophication

Sewage Discharge and Agricultural Runoff • nutrient enrichment of coastal waters • physiological consequences on corals • ecological consequences – phytoplankton bloom reduces light penetration – benthic seaweeds overgrow and smother corals

Atomic Testing

Ocean Dumping total > 10 million Curies Three Mile Island (‘ 79) = 17 Curies Chernobyl (‘ 86) = 100 million Curies US Other Switzerland Great Britain USSR

Thermal Effluents Power plants

Sediment Runoff

Sediment Plume Entering the Ocean (Maui)

Corals Smothered in Sediment

Types of Non-Point Source Pollution • sediments from coastal urban and agricultural development • nutrients from detergents, fertilizers, leaky septic tanks, and domesticated animals • pesticides (home use, agricultural, & golf courses)

Types of Non-Point Source Pollution • automobile wastes such as combusted motor oil, tire rubber, brake pad dust, coolant, etc. • waste water from swimming pools and aquaculture ponds

Sept. 28, 2007 Kamilo Beach Big Island