How Does Ocean Pollution Affect Marine Life

“The world’s oceans are a magical, diverse and abundant ecosystem that mankind needs in order to survive” (“How Ocean Pollution Impacts Marine Life—and All of Us - MarineSafe,” 2016). “Careless human intervention has badly affected the oceanic ecosystem, threatening the existence of several other species on earth, including human beings”(“How Ocean Pollution Impacts Marine Life—and All of Us - MarineSafe,” 2016). Ocean pollution is the spreading of harmful substances like oil, plastic, and chemical particles into the ocean. Marine life refers to the planet, animals, and other organisms that live in the salt water whether it is a sea or ocean. There are many causes of ocean pollution including plastic, oil, waste materials, and copper and it has a huge effect on marine life. However, solutions have been found.

Yearly, 15 billion pounds of plastic are produced in the U.S., but only 1 billion are recycled, much of what’s left makes its way in our ocean” (“Plastic Pollution,” n.d.). That means plastic is a huge source of ocean pollution. The second source is oil spills. Crude oil lasts for years in the ocean and is extremely toxic to marine life, often suffocating marine animals to death once it entraps them. In addition, there are polluted drains flowing into the ocean. “Among all sorts of activities that pollute the ocean, dumping of garbage and other waste materials stands first in the list. Dumping involves depositing all the waste materials from factories and industries, tankers and ships and sewerage waste materials into the oceans and seas” (Mambra, 2017). These are the causes of ocean