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Marine pollution is defined as the introduction of substances to the marine environment directly or indirectly by man resulting in adverse effects such as hazardous to human health, obstruction of marine activities and lowering the quality of sea water
Sources
- Municipal waste & sewage from residences and hotels in coastal towns are directly discharged into sea
- Pesticides and fertilizers from agriculture which are washed off by rain enter water courses & finally to sea. India is estimated to use 55,000 tons of pesticides annually and about 25 percent of it is carried to ocean.
- Petroleum & oil washed of from roads normally enter sewage system & finally into seas
- Ship accidents & accidental spillage at sea can therefore be very damaging to the marine environment.
- Off shore oil exploration also pollute the sea water to a large extent.
- Dry docking: All ships periodic dry docking servicing; cleaning the hulls etc. during this period when cargo compartments are emptied, residual oil goes into sea.
- Pollution due to organic wastes: When O2 concentration falls 1.5 mg/l, the rate of aerobic oxidants reduced and replaced by the anaerobic bacteria that can oxidize the organic molecules without the use of oxygen.
- Pollution due to oil: Crude oil is transported by sea after a tanker has unloaded its cargo of oil; it has to take on sea water ballast for return journey. This ballast water is stored in cargo compartments that previously contained oil. During unloading of cargo certain amount of oil remains clinging to the walls of container & this may amount to 800t in a 200,000t tankers. The ballast water thus contaminated with oil. When fresh crag of oil is to be loaded these compartments are clean with water which discharges the dirty ballast along with oil into sea.
- Tanker accidents: In the natural process, a large no of oil tanker accidents happen every year. Sometimes this can results in major disasters.
- Volcanic eruptions in the sea.
- Deep sea mining is a relatively new mineral retrieval process that takes place on the ocean floor. Ocean mining sites are usually done at about 1,400 - 3,700 meters below the ocean’s surface. The vents create sulfide deposits, which contain precious metals such as silver, gold, copper, manganese, cobalt, and zinc. These raises questions about environment damage to surrounding areas. Removal of parts of the sea floor will result in disturbances to the benthic layer, and habitat of benthic organisms. Beside from direct impact of mining the area, leakage, spills and corrosion would alter the mining area’s chemical makeup.
- Eighty per cent of marine debris is plastic or component that has been rapidly accumulating since the end of World War II. The mass of plastic in the oceans may be as high as one hundred million metric tons.
- Persistent toxins such as PCBs (Poly chlorinated biphenyls), DDT, Pesticides, furans, dioxins and phenols do not disintegrate rapidly in the marine environment. Heavy metals such as lead, nickel, mercury, arsenic and cadmium are poisonous at low concentrations.
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Case study: Marine Pollution in Tamil Nadu: Oceans not spared Industrial pollution has threatened the natural habitats of pearls in the pearl banks of Tuticorin coast in the Gulf of Mannar. It has affected fish and other organisms as far as 30 kms south of Tuticorin due to effluents released from chemical industries. Tannery wastes have caused the pollution of coastal waters from Chennai to Vedaranyam. The effect of diversity of phytoplankton ecology of mangrove estuaries of Tuticorin is greatly affected by industrial effluents. The Chennai coastal waters showed high levels of pesticides like DDT, lindane, endosulphan and heptachlor. The bioaccumulation of these pesticides in marine organisms could pose major health hazards.(Ref:.Sushmitha Baskar and R.Baskar)
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