Notes

Pollution and How It Effects the Ocean
What Plastic Does to the Ocean.

When you think of the ocean what do you think of? Do you think of the cool water, the soft sand or perhaps the warm sun? But did you know that under that beautiful sunset on the water, is all of your trash? Trash is the main cause of extinction to the population of whales and sea turtles, can cause human diseases, and is lessening our amount of clean wSater.

The ocean has more plastic then marine life. There is an estimate of about 150 million tons. Every year 8 million tons is added annually, rising the amount of plastic each year. This is a problem because plastic cannot disintegrate, but only breaks up into little pieces. That means plastic can be floating around the ocean for hundreds of years before it can break up.
Each year about 100,000 sea animals die as a result of plastic being dumped into the ocean each year. Marine animals often mistake this plastic as food. For example, Sea turtles eat plastic bags because they resemble jellyfish. Plastic can also get stuck in a whale’s throat and they choke to death or the digestive system will get too full of garbage, and the animal dies.

Ocean pollution also has an effect on human life as well. Diseases such as, Kidney Damage and Nerve Damage have been linked to swimming in a beach that is polluted or by drinking polluted water. This is why so many beaches are closed, and why purified water is more expensive. Because of this, people will drink out of polluted waters and get diseases or possibly die.

The oceans are getting more and more polluted with plastics. As a result, it is killing more marine life, causing us diseases, and ultimately starving us. This is why we need to take better care of our oceans by reusing andor recycling plastics, bags, jars, and bottles so they do not end up in the ocean.