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Garrett Nadolny
Mrs. DeBock
English 4
March 3rd, 2016
How Humans Affect Endangered Marine Life
Our planets oceans hold more life than any other place in the galaxy. The oceans of this
planet do a lot more to keep us alive than many think. It covers nearly three-fourths of Earth, and
without the ocean we would not have water or rain to carry water around land and create rivers
and lakes, which means we would not be able to grow any type of food or have a water source.
Humans negatively affect endangered marine life by overfishing and polluting, but positively
affect marine life by initiating well thought out policies and helpful organizations.
For all of human existence, the ocean has been our friend when it comes to survival. The
ocean has provided humans with food for thousands of years and can still feed the worlds
growing human population, but not if we do not treat our oceans properly and prevent them from
being polluted and overfished. Food is not the only resource that the oceans provide us with.
More than 70 percent of the oxygen we breathe is generated by marine plants. Healthy coral
reefs, wetlands, and barrier islands buffer coastal settlements from frenzied seas and stormdriven floods (Vogel 5). One of the biggest sources of ocean pollution comes from oil spills.
One of the biggest oil spills in history happened in March, 1989 when the supertanker Exxon
Valdez crashed into a reef only about 25 miles off the coast of Port Valdez, Alaska. 11 million
gallons of oil spilled across the ocean in an area of about 460 miles killing an estimated 250,000
seabirds, 2,800 otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, and 14 22 killer whales, while also
clogging some spawning grounds for salmon and herring (Vogel 15). Another spill, much

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greater than that of the Exxon Valdez was no accident. During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein deliberately released into the Persian Gulf about 460 million
gallons of oil from a Kuwait oil terminal and five Iraqi oil tankers (Vogel 18). Another main
source of human ocean pollution comes from sewage. There are two types of sewage treatment
that are mainly used: Primary treatment, which removes solid matter by passing wastewater
through filters and then holding it in tanks until the heavy particles settle out, and Secondary
treatment, which brings the filtered liquid into contact with helpful microorganisms, which break
down small particles suspended in it (Vogel 32). Some sewage treatment plants receive waste
from toxic chemical factories and only a portion of these chemicals can be filtered out unless it
goes through another process called tertiary treatment, but it is very expensive and not many
treatment facilities are willing to pay for it. In the early 1950s, near Minamata Bay, Japan,
animals began to act very strange, beginning to stumble around and drool unconsciously. A
couple years later the same thing began happening to the children and adults began to feel ill and
unable to control their limbs appropriately, shaking and becoming numb. According to research,
Several years passed before befuddled doctors identified the cause. A local chemical factory had
been dumbing industrial wastes, including mercury, into Minamata Bay for at least 25 years. The
mercury was taken up by the plankton in the water. When fish ate the plankton, the mercury
became part of their flesh. Inevitably the mercury collected in the tissue of the animals and
people who ate the contaminated fish (Vogel 37). Littering is another major cause of ocean
pollution. Most would think that littering somewhere inland will not affect ocean life, but trash
moves by streams, rivers, and runoff from rain and carry it to the ocean. Overfishing is a major
cause of the extinctions and endangerments of many marine animals. Just three hundred years
ago you would have found colossal underwater cities packed with sea life along every coast.

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Overfishing turned many of these lush marine havens into biological deserts (Vogel 47).
Overfishing was not a big issue until high-tech fishing equipment was invented, such as
mechanized trawlers. A trawl is a huge, weighted-down net shaped like a cone. It is dragged
across the ocean floor by a boat with a long rope. The trawl scoops up bottom-dwelling fish and
crushes or buries everything else in its path, also eliminating hiding places on the seafloor for
surviving creatures, making them more vulnerable to predators (Vogel 50).
Overfishing has been a problem for many years, but some scientists say that it is no
longer a problem. They say that due to new acts, treaties, and programs, we no longer have to
worry about fish populations decreasing from fishing. Yet fisherman Steve Arnold, 46, says all
he sees in his home port of Point Judith, R.I., are fewer boats, older fisherman, and a lot of
frowns on peoples faces (Dudley 38). The reason that the fish population has not decreased
because of fishing is because there are not as many fisherman as there used to be, due to the fact
that many fish populations have decreased greatly and become endangered and many fisherman
went out of business, and now with fewer fisherman, there are more fish. Humans burn fossil
fuels every day to operate our everyday equipment. When fossil fuels are burned carbon dioxide
is released into the air. Most of this CO2 does not stay in the air, but rather sucked in by the
oceans. If it wasnt for oceans sucking up the CO2 scientists believe that Earth would be much
warmer. According to Dudley, even with the oceans massive uptake of CO2, the past decade was
still the warmest since modern record-keeping began (41). There are some scientists that believe
ocean acidification poses no threat to the oceans, stating that millions of years ago the oceans
were much more acidic than today, but millions of years ago we did not have certain life forms
that we have today. Ocean acidification can destroy habitats by causing shellfish and corals to
decay from too much CO2 and also run certain animals out of their habitat from warming the

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oceans. Although offshore oil drilling and transportation spills is one of the most serious ocean
pollution causes, there are scientists who think this poses no threat to marine life and
environments. These scientists note that almost every major oil spill has fully recovered, but
what about all of the marine animals, birds, and habitats that were destroyed? Sure, they can
grow back their populations, but what happens when too big of a spill happens or when leaks
from over drilling offshore happens too quickly for us to contain? How will we protect the
animals then?
Many treaties, programs, and organizations have been created and initiated to protect our
planets oceans and regulate fishing in them. In 1982, the United Nations established a treaty
called the Law of the Sea. It makes trawls, fishing with dynamite, and chemical solutions illegal
to use to catch fish. The treaty was revised in 1994 due to concerns about sea mining. As of
2006, 152 countries had signed and ratified the treaty, while another twenty-six (including the
US) had signed the agreement but not yet ratified it (Farrell, Warhol 1). In 2004, George Bush
created an ocean policy committee. According to Farrell and Warhol the committee returned a
report after three years with about 200 recommendations on overcoming challenges to oceans.
The committee estimated it would cost about $1.5 billion to implement the recommendations in
the first year, but that the cost would later be recouped with improved ecosystem productivity
(1).
Humans negatively affect endangered marine life by overfishing and polluting, but
positively affect marine life by initiating well thought out policies and helpful organizations.
Every year more and more people are understanding the importance of the oceans and the life it
generates on our planet. Maybe one day the world will get over money and war issues and focus
on much more important aspects of Earth. By not littering, watching what companies you buy

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seafood from, fishing legally, and maybe even give a donation to helpful marine life
organizations such as the ASOC, Oceana, and WWF.

Works Cited
Dudley, William. Endangered Oceans: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven,
1999. Print.
Farrell, Courtney, and Tom Warhol. "Ocean Policy: An Overview." HCS Smart Search. Great
Neck Publishing, 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.
Vogel, Carole Garbuny. Human Impact. New York: F. Watts, 2003. Print.