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

Marine PollutantsMarine Pollutants

Pollutants Entering the Ocean

Farm runoff 20%Air pollutants 20%

Marine transportation10%

Offshore oil10%

Industrial wastewater5%

Litter 5%

Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge100,000 gallons jet fuel spilled 2003.

Petroleum HydrocarbonsPetroleum Hydrocarbons

CasitasNOAA Marine debris vessel Annual collection of 100 metric tons of debris

July 5, 2005Debris cleanup ship grounded 7/5/2005has aboard 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel, 3,000 gallons of gasoline and 200 gallons of lubricating oil

Petroleum HydrocarbonsPetroleum Hydrocarbons

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

• The Prestige: a 26-year-old Bahamas-flagged single hulled vessel

• Sunk with 20 million gallons of viscous fuel oil • Hundreds of miles of rugged coastline have been

fouled by the stricken Prestige's cargo, destroying wildlife and wrecking the area's renowned fisheries and shellfish industry.

Spain November 19, 2002

Lifeboat w/ dead bird

sinking

incident

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

Containing oil spills:

• Hair Booms

Relative amts of petroleum in the ocean:

River runoff 31.1%Tanker operations 21.8%Coastal facilities 13.1%Atmospheric fallout 9.8%Natural seepage 9.8%Other transportation activities 9.8%Tanker accidents 3.3%Offshore petroleum production 1.3%

• 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

PlasticsPlastics

• “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”

• Estimate: 46,000 pieces of floating garbage/mi2.

North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

135° to 155°W and 35° to 42°N

North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/patch.html#6

Great Pacific Garbage Patch- Good Morning America 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLrVCI4N67M&feature=player_embedded

Marine pollution: nets and plastic debris

Large bird rookery and guano miningIn 1857, reported 800,000 birds.

hypersaline lake (120-140o/oo)

Laysan IslandMarine pollution: nets and plastic debris

Sooty tern Laysan finch

Marine pollution: nets and plastic debrisLaysan albatross

Laysan ducks

Laysan Island

Marine pollution: nets and plastic debris

Bits and pieces of plastic are collected at sea and deposited on the Laysan Lake shoreline

Marine pollution: nets and plastic debris

Albatross Chick

2004-2007 Barber’s Point

Nontoxic Chemical SpillsNontoxic Chemical Spills

• Sept. 10, 2013• 233,000 gallons molasses spilled (1400 tons)• Matson Pier on the Sand Island side of Honolulu Harbor

westward into Ke’ehi Lagoon • 30,000 fish dead

Toxic Chemical SpillsToxic Chemical Spills

• 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 effects human health

Bioaccumulation biomagnificationBioaccumulation biomagnification

Pesticides & HerbicidesPesticides & Herbicides

Biomagnification

• PCBs • DDT

Bioaccumulation biomagnificationBioaccumulation biomagnification

Pesticides, Herbicides & other organochlorines

Pesticides, Herbicides & other organochlorines

Silent Spring began public debate over chemicals

• Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962.– Brought together studies to show DDT risks to

people, wildlife, and ecosystems– In the 1960s, pesticides were mostly untested and

were sprayed over public areas, assuming they would do no harm.

DDTPowerful InsecticideHarmless to humans

Polychloronated biphenyls (PCBs)Toxic chemicals

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) in killer whales and humans.

Heavy metals resist biodegredation

Natural occurrence- volcanoes

• Mercury (Hg)• Copper (Cu)• Lead (Pb)• Cadmium (Cd)

Toxic MetalsToxic Metals

Minamata Disease (1953-1960)– Japan

MercuryMercury

• Tributyl tin (antifouling paint for boats)• Banned in U.S. 1980s• Acts as an immunosuppressor• Accumulations unusually high in small whales• May be associated with strandings

CopperCopper

• Leaded gasoline invented 1920’s

• Enters water from automobile exhaust, runoff and atmospheric fallout of industrial waste and landfills, mines, dumps

• Leaded gas banned in US in 1980’s has reduced pollution in ocean

Bioaccumulation biomagnificationBioaccumulation biomagnification

LeadLead

Sewage

• Causes disease outbreaks• Contributes to eutrophication

Point Source PollutionPoint Source Pollution

Medical Waste

Waimanalo Gulch Landfill overflowed into Ko’olinaJan 2011

6/13/2006Raw sewage dump in Ala Wai. Beaches Close!

48 million gallonsWhy?• 40 straight days of rain• 42-inch pressurized underground pipe

broke during heavy rains

DiseaseDisease

Sewage Discharge and Agricultural Runoff

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

Nutrients and Algae GrowthNutrients and Algae Growth

                                       

Atomic TestingAtomic Testing

Atomic TestingAtomic Testing

Atomic TestingAtomic Testing

Coral reef at Enewetak Atoll, former nuclear test site.

Nuclear Contamination

SEVERE

HIGH

ELEVATED

GUARDED

LOW

Ocean Dumping

total > 10 million Curiestotal > 10 million Curies

Three Mile Island (‘79) = 17 CuriesChernobyl (‘86) = 100 million CuriesFukushima (‘11)= 60 million Curies

US

Other

Switzerland

GreatBritain

USSR

Arctic Ocean

Russia

Soviet Union’s Atomic Dumping Ground

Moscow

April 2011 Earthquake, Tsunami, Reactor Melts

Fukushima Nuclear plant accident

Thermal EffluentsThermal Effluents

Power plants

Non-Point Source PollutionNon-Point Source Pollution

Ala Wai

Constructed 1920-28 to reduce mosquitoes, but failed.

Sediment Runoff

Sediment Runoff

Sediment Plume Entering the Ocean(Maui)

Corals Smothered in Sediment

Pflueger at Pila’a, Kauai$7.5 million for Clean Water Act violations

Types of Non-Point Source Pollution

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

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

Other WastesOther Wastes

Japan Tsunami 2011Prediction of Marine Debris Drifting Trajectories

Hawaii

http://www.hawaii247.com/2011/04/07/tsunami-2011-japan-debris-likely-to-hit-hawaii-twice/

1989

                                             

                      

Net DamageNet Damage

French Frigate Shoals (2001)

Kure Atoll

Sept. 28, 2007Kamilo BeachBig Island

Munitions Dumping

Millions of pounds of mustard gas canisters were jettisoned into the Atlantic Ocean off New Jersey (1964) and elsewhere. (Photo: The U.S. Army)

Munitions Dumping

1940’s to 1972 off west coast of Oahu

1. Define bioaccumulation and biomagnification.2. Discuss the process of managing an oil spill.3. Which event was the largest oil spill in

history?4. Distinguish between point source and

nonpoint source pollution.5. What may result when eutrophication occurs?

Inquiry