MARINE BIOLOGY
TURTLE
WHAT IS IT?
Marine biology, the science that deals with animals and plants that live in the sea. It also deals with air-borne and terrestrial organisms that depend directly upon bodies of salt water for food and other necessities of life. In the broadest sense it attempts to describe all vital phenomena pertaining to the myriads of living things that dwell in the vast oceans of the world. Some of its specialized branches concern natural history, taxonomy, embryology, morphology, physiology, ecology, and geographical distribution. Marine biology is closely related to the science of oceanography because of the relationship of the physical features of the oceans to the living organisms that dwell in them. It aids in the understanding of marine geology through the study of those organisms that contribute their skeletal remains to the floors of the oceans or that elaborate the vast coral reefs of the tropic seas.
Pollution’s Many Forms
There is evidence that the oceans have suffered at the hands of mankind for millennia, as far back as Roman times. But recent studies show that degradation, particularly of shoreline areas, has accelerated dramatically in the past three centuries as industrial discharge and runoff from farms and coastal cities has increased.
Pollution is the introduction of harmful contaminants that are outside the norm for a given ecosystem. Common man-made pollutants that reach the ocean include pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, detergents, oil, sewage, plastics, and other solids. Many of these pollutants collect at the ocean's depths, where they are consumed by small marine organisms and introduced into the global food chain. Scientists are even discovering that pharmaceuticals ingested by humans but not fully processed by our bodies are eventually ending up in the fish we eat.
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Many ocean pollutants are released into the environment far upstream from coastlines. Nitrogen-rich fertilizers applied by farmers inland, for example, end up in local streams, rivers, and groundwater and are eventually deposited in estuaries, bays, and deltas. These excess nutrients can spawn massive blooms of algae that rob the water of oxygen, leaving areas where little or no marine life can exist. Scientists have counted some 400 such dead zones around the world.
Solid waste like bags, foam, and other items dumped into the oceans from land or by ships at sea are frequently consumed, with often fatal effects, by marine mammals, fish, and birds that mistake it for food. Discarded fishing nets drift for years, ensnaring fish and mammals. In certain regions, ocean currents corral trillions of decomposing plastic items and other trash into gigantic, swirling garbage patches. One in the North Pacific, known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is estimated to be the size of Texas. A new, massive patch was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean in early 2010.
Pollution is everywhere â from the highest reaches of our atmosphere to the darkest depths of our oceans. And itâs killing us. But together, we can stop it. Together, we can
BeatPollution