Human Impacts: Part 2. Pollution

Happy Valentines Day everyone! This is part two of our trilogy of human impact on fish. A whole lot on pollution! Todays post is fairly short, but pollution is a big problem! Remember, you can help! Recycle, compost, make sure all of your garbage gets used as many times as possible before it goes to a landfill - all your extra pink paper hearts can be recycled, or better yet, save them for next year!

Another negative impact on the environments in which fish live is pollution. Did you know that each year about fourteen billion pounds of trash are deposited into the ocean? You may think that this isn’t your fault, but every single person, including me, who has ever put something into a trash can contributes to this pollution. Even if you don’t mean for it to, your garbage is probably floating in the middle of the ocean right now, along side mine. The creatures amidst all this pollution are dying from choking, internal blockage, and injuries sustained from plastic, fishing wire, and other kinds of litter, as well as oil and other toxins. Pollution in our oceans mainly consists of plastic, pesticides and herbicides, oil, sewage, and other garbage. This fall, I read an article in the Boston Globe entitled ‘Chasing Bayla,’ about one scientist’s dedication to save a right whale who had been entangled in polypropylene rope. Bayla was cut and injured, yet she still worked against the scientists’ tireless efforts to save her. Reading this, I was thinking to myself, ‘What would I do if I saw a whale entangled in rope? How could I help it?’ This article was very sad and forced me to think about the reality of pollution, and what I could do to help.

There is also noise pollution from things like SONAR affecting the undersea ecosystem. SONAR is a great resource for scientists, but is also very harmful to animals. The same scientists’ from the NRDC who traveled to Baja with me are now fighting against SONAR and other noise pollutants. They are currently working on a video documentary about the SONAR’s effects on whales to help raise the public awareness of this problem. I am so thankful I got to learn about the fight for these whales because it made me want to help too.