San Diego’s Shoreline: Killing it Softly
San Diego is prominent for its beautiful coastline and tourist-attracting beaches, but our claim to fame may soon end if we continue treating it like our personal dumpster. Ocean polluting is not a new problem and not a recently discovered argument. In fact ”Ocean dumping has been used as a method for water disposal in the U.Sl for about 80 years “(Ocean Dumping, page 1). In 1972 there was a law proposed to ban all ocean polluting that could severely hurt the marine diversity. It was a good idea, although the ban was overturned in 1981 until its 1988 amendment. The reason for this resurrection and amendment of the law was because of the notable amount of pollution, sewage, and waste going into the ocean at that time, a sterling “8 million metric tons” of sewage andhuman waste was dumped into the ocean around the time of the amendment (Ocean Dumping, page 2). This was over a decade ago, but that doesn’t mean our society has changed their ways. Our ocean, and everything that is living and growing in it is in danger of over-pollution and ruin which is why I say that marine polluting adversely affect everyone in San Diego. by Siobhan
Oil in S.D. waters
There are many things that fall to blame for our beaches declining manifestation and saitation; one would be all the boats that harbor in our bays and ports. Boating is a popular recreational sport and a very relied-on way of transportation, so much so, that there are as many as 12 million boats operating in the U.S. (Blais). One single boat could do serious damage to our oceans, if there was an oil spill or simply if the engine is left on and idling. Oil from these boats affects the water significantly considering how common oil spills are. Cleaning up oil pollution should be atop priority to clean up San Diego because “one gallon of oil can pollute 250,000 gallons of water” (Blais). So two hundred and fifty thousand time the oil that is spilled is how much water is being damaged and living creature being affected. Almost 160 million gallons of fuel spill a year form boats so you can imagine the amount of water and the number of animals and fish that are affected by the oil (Blais, page 1). With so much oil spilling and oil being so harmful to water, it should be carefully watched over and monitored. However, some of the oil that is spilled is accidental when “25-35 percent of fuel is un-burned and enters the water through bilge water discharge” (Blais). One gallon may seem like a lot to spill from one boat, although to prevent this common problem we don’t necessarily have to take the boats out of the water. Something as simple as a bilge sock would work. A bilge sock is an attachment to be put onto the bilge of a boat where the most pollution comes form. It holds all the oil and harmful matter in it until the matter is thrown out at one of the available disposal sites, and jut one can last up to a whole boating season (Blais). Coast guards have offered free bilge socks in the past, and it was an entirely appropriate way to handle the fuel problem and should be continued.
Trash in San Diego Waters
Oil is not the only thing that is hurting the fish and underwater animals. Many people and companies use the ocean as a never-ending landfill, something that is illegal but apparently , not very uncommon. States near the coastline tend to dump their trash and waste into the water even more so than landfills (Ocean Dumping). Some people may think this is a harmless way to be rid of their trash although many things found in trash can hurt animals for instance, the plastic can holders can kill a fish that tries to swim through the holes. Another example is Styrofoambecause it never disintegrates, nor do diapers or cellophane wrap making these things very harmful to all animals. All these items are commonly used and discarded and many end up in the ocean. It is beginning to take a toll on everything living in the ocean and everyone who visits the ocean.
Sea life Affected
Marine animals and fish are obviously the ones who are most affected by the pollution and oil spillage. The ocean is not only where sea life lives, eats, and breeds but the polluted water is what they breathe, making the water pollution much like their own kind of air pollution, something that is dangerous and deadly. It is hurting its inhabitans and it’s ruining our coean. Not only is the death and disease of the fish sad and wrong, it is something we need to worry about for our own economic purposes. Studies show that olluted water can cause “reduced respiration, feeding , and egg production” in fish (Ocean Dumping). It also makes them sickly which makes their flesh taste odd, and make sthem discolored. With recreational fishermen spending almost $540 million dollars on waltwater sport fishing, and also fish selling and buying being a large part of San diego’s economy, everyone has a reason to be concerned about this problem (Blais). Diseases such as liver tumors and fin rot can be found in almost 27% of the fish that swim in San Diego’s bays and marinas (Blais). Animals other than fish are also harmed including seals that rely on clean water to keep their fur clean and useful. It is their main source of warmth and direct contact of oil to their skin stops them form being able to catch air bubbles under their fur and keep warm (Blais). Even if it is just a little bit of oil in the water, just enough to skim the surface, it is harmful. It reduces the light penetration into the water making the oxygen exchange in the water different, harming fishing and other gilled animals. The floating layer of oil can also damage the micro layer, the area where many animals, microbes and assorted plants use as a breeding ground (Blais). With the animals and the economy being affected in so many harmful ways everyone should be a little involved in saving the animals’ habitat from destruction created by oil and trash.