Week 6 Water Pollution

Week 6 Water Pollution

Point source has become a concern for the safety and wellness of ocean life. Dumping by-products from ship or tankers into the oceans creates problems in the Neritic and Oceanic provinces as well as the Intertidal and Shallow benthic zones of the ocean. When gray or black water or bilge water gets released into the ocean; oxygen needs to be used to decompose the waste water, which takes away from the already existing oxygen in the ocean. This happen not only with the shipping industry but cruise lines as well. Cruise lines have the information posted on their website explaining how they handle the waste during cruising. The gray and black water are allowed to be discharged to the sea beyond 12 nautical miles from land. Bilge water at the same range and can contain five part per million of oil (International, 2009). Allowing the dumping of any untreated water into the ocean should not be permitted. More that people are aware that it is occurring the better the chance to stop the dumping. The United Nations created bans on marine pollution. The division is Maritime Organization Prevention of Pollutions (MARPOL) regulates marine pollution caused or released by ships into the world’s oceans. The open oceans are harder to enforce the regulations that would help the ocean and ocean life (Berg, 2011). Dumping waste into the world’s water sources will only end in the destruction of human life. Our world is roughly 70% water; we cannot afford to pollute the water that we need to survive.

Berg, L. (2011). Visualizing Environmental Science. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.