“The Impact Of Pollution On The Ocean Food Chain”
Introduction
From tiny plankton to massive whales, every animal in the ocean relies on a stable and healthy ecosystem. But as human pollution continues to seep into the sea, that ecosystem is in danger of collapsing. This issue affects the ocean’s ecosystem and humans as we depend on the sea for sustenance and livelihood. There is a significant problem surrounding the pollution within the ocean.”There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea.” according to National Geographic. The ocean houses around 1000 marine species affected by pollution.
Ocean pollution is a mixture of chemicals and trash dumped into the sea, which includes polythene, plastic bags, bottles, sewage, oil spills, and toxins such as pesticides, fertilizers, phenol, etc. There are seven types of pollution, but only a few affect Marine life more than others: Air, water, land, radioactive, noise, and thermal. Land, water, and air pollution are marine life’s primary pollutants.
The 4 Levels of The Food Chain
National Geographic says that “the marine ecosystem is made up of a complicated series interconnected energy producers-like plants and phytoplankton-and consumers-from plant-eaters to meat-eaters, both great and small.” One primary rule of the ocean is that bigger fish eat smaller fish. According to National Geographic, these are the four levels of the food chain;
At level one are the photoautotrophs, which are countless billions of one-celled organisms called phytoplankton while on the coasts, seaweed, and seagrasses. These convert nutrients and carbon dioxide into organic compounds and are the primary producers of carbon that all animals in the ocean need to survive and produce more than half of the oxygen we breathe on Earth.
At level two are the herbivores, animals that primary food source is the sea’s abundant plant life. The smaller animals include zooplankton, a microscopic organism that lives in the ocean along with jellyfish and the earlier stages of some fish, barnacles, and mollusks, which drift across the sea, grazing. Some larger marine animals include surgeonfish, parrotfish, green turtles, manatees, etc. These animals all have a large appetite for vegetation. Unfortunately, they all share the same fate: to become food for the predatory animals in the levels above them.
At level three, carnivores are carnivores. The zooplankton sustains many small carnivores such as sardines, herring, and menhaden. This level also includes octopuses which feed on crustaceans and many fish. These animals are very successful hunters.
At level four, the top predators are sharks, tuna, dolphins, pelicans, penguins, seals, walruses, etc. These predators are large and fast. Due to this, they live longer, causing them to reproduce slower.
How Marine Pollution Affects The Food Chain
Marine pollution affects the food chain by introducing bioaccumulation, when toxins enter an organism, building up and lingering in the ecosystem. Because of interconnections within a food chain, bioaccumulated toxins can spread to the whole food chain.
One way this occurs is through heavy metals like mercury, which moves up through the food chain, contaminating shellfish and fish like mackerel, tuna, and sharks, exposing consumers to these toxic chemicals, which can ultimately kill us.
We can also see plastic killing off animals in one instance. This is shown when the loggerhead sea turtle thinks a plastic bag is a jellyfish but ends up eating the bag and choking to death. Another example is plastic soda rings getting stuck on marine life and birds strangling or causing discomfort.
Pollution can also threaten levels of the food chains. Threatened levels can cause there to be an imbalance in the food chain which can cause there to be loss of other marine species. When one animal is lost, this can affect other animals in a wide variety. For example, if sea turtles died off, there would be a significant imbalance due to their enormous role in the food chain. They are herbivores that feed on seagrasses and algae. Because of this, they help maintain the health of the seagrass beds and keep algae growth in check. If sea turtles were to become extinct, there would be a surge in the algae population, which would negatively affect the ecosystem, such as oxygen depletion and the loss of habitat for other marine animals. Sea turtles also provide food for predators, including sharks and large fish. The failure of sea turtles could result in a decline in these populations, leading to an adverse effect throughout the food chain.
We need to fix the marine pollution and are doing a poor job resolving this issue. I love watching documentaries on animals, especially the ones on marine life! But seeing how our ocean’s ecosystem is being affected by so much pollution is crazy. We need to work on these issues because if we don’t address them now, we can lose a significant amount of marine life, causing not only a collapsing food chain but it will affect us, taking not only food from us but even other countries.
What We Should Do
As a community, we need to start ensuring we are recycling, throwing trash away in the correct places, and lowering the amount of litter. One way to fix this is by using reusable bags, water bottles, and containers.
We also need to reduce the number of toxic chemicals and sewage that are being released into the ocean. These chemicals not only affect the ocean’s ecosystems and the food chains but also affect us as consumers. Therefore, we must sufficiently dispose of these materials instead of throwing them into the ocean.
Another way to help ocean life is by reducing the carbon emissions we release into the environment. We can fix this by riding bikes, taking public transportation, and walking around. These are just a few examples of how we can help the ocean and its inhabitants.
Lastly, many nonprofit organizations strive to improve the ocean’s ecosystem and focus on cleaning it. One group, in particular, is Oceana. They focus on cleaning the sea not only here in the United States and are the first group to aim to protect and restore the ocean globally. Oceana has covered 4 million square miles of the sea as they fight against overfishing and pollution. In addition, they have offices across the globe to help with this. Oceana also has directed campaigns focused on the ocean’s biodiversity and conservation. Introducing more groups like this could help us as a world, showing more people the importance of correctly disposing of trash and ensuring our oceans are being protected, influencing their behaviors for the better.
