L2 - Marine Pollution Flashcards
Give 2 definitions of Marine Pollution
- Contamination of the environment as a result of human activities
- The addition of non-natural components into a natural environment
What are the 5 main types of pollution
- Degradable Wastes
- Fertilisers
- Dissipating Wastes
- Conservative Wastes
- Solid Wastes
What type of waste never degrades or dissipates?
Conservative Wastes
What are the 5 main sources of pollution (with examples)?
- Point Source Outfalls (Sewage Outfall)
- Diffuse Inputs (Fertilisers)
- Shipping (Routine Tank Washing Operations)
- Offshore Inputs (Oil & Gas Industry)
- Atmospheric Inputs (Fallout)
Where has there been an exception on the impact of dissipating wastes and it has actually causes increased biodiversity?
Dungess Power Station
How much Lead and Mercury is released into the marine environment annually through Atmospheric Inputs?
Pb - 400,000 tonnes/year via rainfall
Hg - 3,000 tonnes from fossil fuels
How much metal, plastic and glass enters the marine environment daily?
4.8 million pieces of metal
450,000 pieces of plastic
300,000 pieces of glass
Give 9 source of litter
- Beach Visitors
- Sewer Overflows
- Fly Tipping
- Fishing Gear
- Illegal Dumping
- Tidal Flow
- River and Stream Flow
- Ocean Currents
- Sewage Discharge
What is the definition of litter?
“Any persistent, manufactured or processed solid material discarded, disposed of or abandoned in the marine and coastal environment” (UNEP)
Which type of litter is of the greatest concern and why?
Plastic due to the Throw Away Culture we have
How much plastic that has ever been produced is in the global marine system?
10%
How much litter is dumped annually into the North Sea?
20,000 tonnes
How does floating plastic cause problems?
It causes entanglement and it can travel long distances
What impact does plastic have because it doesn’t biodegrade?
It only breaks down into smaller pellets and is often mistaken for food by biota and filer feeders which leads to starvation due to blocking
What % of seabirds, marine mammals and marine turtles are harmed due to plastic?
44% of seabirds
43% of marine mammals
86% of marine turtles
What are the 3 main hazards associated with offshore litter?
- It ends up on beaches and at the seabed
- Entanglement of Wildlife
- Accumulation in fish and shellfish
What are the 3 issues requiring conservation due to litter?
- Direct - Ingestion
- Indirect - Toxicity
- Ecosystem Impacts
What food item is plastic often mistaken for?
Jelly Fish
For every ½ kg of surface water plankton there is how much plastic? and which species are at risk as a result?
5kg
Filter Feeders and Seabirds
What % of albatross have plastic in them before they leave the nest?
98%
What % of Green Turtles have shown ingestion of plastic/litter?
60%
A Minke Whale was found stranded in France, how much plastic was found in its stomach?
800 kg
What % of Puffins in the North Sea have had plastic in their stomachs and what was the main source?
13%
Elastic Bands
Why does plastic pose a risk of toxicity?
Plastics accumulate pollutants and there are risks of bioaccumulation through the food chain (as far as Humans!)
What are the 3 main problems for Ecosystems as a result of litter?
- Imbalanced Food Chain
- Smothering and Abrasion of Benthic Communities
- Beach Cleaning removes the strand line and the associated key species
Which species of barnacle actually now prefers plastic substrata in the Irish Sea?
Stalked Barnacle
Give 4 conservation measures to reduce problems associated with plastics
- Recycling
- Better legislation to enforce bans on dumping/littering
- Plant sugars and biologically grown plastics that can biodegrade
- Photodegradable, oxidative, hydrolytic and biodegradable plastics
Plastics account for what % of litter today?
80%
How many tonnes are litter are floating in the marine environment?
80,000 tonnes
What is marine dumping controlled by?
The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Banter (1972)
What 7 things can be legally dumped at sea?
- Dredged Material
- Sewage Sludge (but not in the North or Irish Seas)
- Beyond 3nm: fish and industrial fish processing waste
- Vessels, platforms and other man-made structures at sea
- Inert, inorganic geological material
- Organic material of natural origin
- Bulky items that have no practical access to other disposal options other than dumping
Which platform has been used in Norwegian Fjords to create a reef?
Brent Spar
What are the 4 classifications of nautical miles for dumping in the Atlantic and Irish Sea?
0-3nm: no dumping
3-12nm: no floating plastic/packaging, oil waste or garbage
12-25nm: no floating plastic/packaging and oil waste
>25nm: no plastics or oil waste
What are the 2 classifications of nautical miles for dumping in the North Sea and English Channel?
12nm: food waste dumping only
Give 5 sources of heavy metals
- Sewage
- Land Run Off
- Industrial Discharge
- Leaching from Plastics
- Waste Dumping
What are the main problems associated with heavy metals?
Bioaccumulation and non-biodegradable
What was trialled before TBT?
Cu, As & Hg paints and DDT
When was TBT banned?
In the last 10 years
What are the 2 cases of Mercury (Hg) poisoning in Japan and what were the number of deaths?
1952 in Minamata Bay (67 Deaths)
1965 in Niigata (13 Deaths)
In what year did the French ban TBT on vessels
1982 to help Oyster Recoveries
Which Act in the UK regulates the sale and use of TBT on small vessels?
Control of Pollution Act 1974
What impact does TBT have on dog whelks?
At 2-3 ng/l (and the EQS is 20 ng/l!) it causes males to grow female reproductive systems and vice versa – no recruitment or reproduction
How much oil enters the marine environment annually?
1.7 - 8.8 million tonnes
What type of oil is of most concern and why?
Heavy, long carbon chain oils because they are persistent
Give 5 sources of oil pollution
- Tanker Washing/Ballast Water
- Dry Dock
- Accidents at Marine Terminals
- Bilge and Fuel Oils
- Offshore Oil Industry
In the North Sea what accounts of 90% of the oil industries input of hydrocarbons to the marine environment?
Drilling Muds
When, where and how much oil was spilt in the Amoco Cadiz accident?
1978
Brittany
223,000 tonnes
When, where and how much oil was spilt in the Exxon Valdez accident?
1989
Prince William Sound, Alaska
37,000 tonnes
When, where and how much oil was spilt in the Braer Tanker accident?
1993
Shetland
85,000 tonnes
How many major accidents have there been between 1970 and 1995 and what has the general decline been and what has the main reason be?
44
General trend of Decline
Introduction of Double Hulled Tankers
Give 5 other sources of oil that could reach the marine environment?
- Refinery Discharge
- Atmospheric
- Urban & Industrial Waste
- Land and River Run Off
- Licensed Dumping
Give 5 reasons why oil is a problem
- Hydrocarbons and PAHs are carcinogenic
- Slow breakdown rate
- Impacts aren’t proportional to the magnitude of spill
- Smothering of birds and macro algae
- Because of the offshore environment it is hard to get true numbers of impact (for every 1 bird death, there are likely to be 3 more)
Give 3 methods of clean up
- Biodegradation
- Dispersants/booms with skirts/slick-lickers
- Beach Cleans
What are dispersants and why are they potentially more of a problem?
Medium to Light Oils
May be toxic and cause more harm
What are booms with skirts?
Collect oil and then removed by pumping
What are slick-lickers?
Absorbant materials with rollers to squeeze out oil
What happens to oil when combined with sediment?
It slows down the biodegradation process and it can remain on beaches for extended periods of time
Why are beach cleans potentially problems?
May cause more harm & they may be harmful to those cleaning it up
