World Ocean Day – 5 of the Worst Ocean Threats everything from plastic to noise

We are all aware of the importance of the oceans to all life on Earth. Oceans, despite being one of the most valuable natural resources, face a number of threats.

The oceans cover more than 70% of our planet. From cleaning the air and providing livelihoods to being the home of all marine life, the importance and value of this natural resource are difficult to quantify.

Despite the fact that most of us understand the importance of oceans to all life on Earth, the water bodies continue to be polluted in various ways.

In honour of World Ocean Day, which is observed every June 8, here are the most common and worst threats to the ocean, ranging from trash to plastic, fertilizers, and even noise.

Every year, eight million tonnes of plastic are dumped into the oceans, the equivalent of nearly 57,000 blue whales.

At this rate, the amount of plastic in the ocean is expected to exceed that of fish by 2050.

The majority of plastic dumped into the ocean comes from single-use plastic bags, water bottles, and drinking straws that people discard rather than recycle.

Plastic then pollutes our waterways and is consumed by marine life such as fish, whales, turtles, and seabirds. Because the majority of the debris is not biodegradable, it settles at the ocean’s bottom, forming massive garbage patches.

There are five such garbage patches in the world, with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch being twice the size of Texas and containing an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of garbage.

Pollution caused by noise

Sound waves travel faster and farther through water than they do through air. This means that noise pollution from shipping and military activity can harm, if not kill, marine life.

Many sea creatures, including dolphins and whales, rely on sound to communicate, mate, navigate, and find food.

As a result, when confronted with increased human-generated noise, these species are unable to communicate.