Effects of Ocean Pollution on Dolphins

 Many marine species are getting harmed due to excessive ocean pollution. The rate at which humans are polluting the seas and oceans for the past few decades is very alarming. Innocent, silent marine animals will continue to suffer and some of them even might get extinct if we don't act today. Of all these animals, dolphins are the ones that will suffer the most. These beautiful creatures are the most sensitive to sound, chemicals and other pollutants.

With increasing plastic pollution and sound pollution in the oceans, there is a significant decrease in the population of Dolphins. Toxins are entering the oceans directly from industries or by marine accidents. Chemicals such as DDT (dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane), PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl), PBDE (polybrominated diphenyl ether) are dumped into the oceans. Apart from this, heavy metals like iron, copper, zinc etc also enter the oceans through oil spills, ship accidents, bridges and road construction through oceans and other activities. All these unwanted, extra materials and chemicals act as direct poison for dolphins. The toxins added in oceans have many long terms effects on dolphins. These chemicals weaken their immune systems and increase their chances to catch other diseases. The chemicals also affect their reproduction capabilities which result in a decrease in their population.

When toxins affect their immune system, it's very hard for the mammal to fight fungal and bacterial infections. These toxins also cause pneumonia and skin infections to the dolphins. Parasites like tapeworms and liver flukes can also easily infect the weak immune dolphins and can potentially kill them.

 Another factor that has harmed the dolphins is decreasing oxygen levels. Dolphins unlike other mammals breathe oxygen. Dolphins breathe through the lungs because they do not have gills. Hence they had to come to the surface every 10-15 minutes to breathe. But oil spills and large ships makes it difficult to breathe. Also, the oil platforms and ship decreases the quality of oxygen these mammals breathe. The increase in minerals like iron, zinc etc in oceans also results in the growth of unwanted algae. These algae decrease the amount of oxygen in the particular area they are grown. Hence they create 'dead zones' for dolphins where these mammals cannot breathe.

Dolphins are at the top of the marine food chain, hence any harm to them will directly affect the entire ecosystem. So saving them must be our first concern. Dolphins are made to live for 10-15 years but human activities and health issues have decreased their life span.

Dolphins uses sound to navigate and communicate. But boat traffics, fishing activities, oil platforms and other marine activities have increased the noise pollution in the oceans. Researchers have said that an excess amount of noise can make dolphins uncomfortable and stressed. Sometimes these noises also lead to deafness in dolphins and loss of their habitat. Deafness leads to loss of navigating and communicating skills of dolphins. Constant exposure to noise can sometimes lead to the immediate death of dolphins. 

Hence protecting dolphins is very necessary to maintain the ecological balance. If these marine species die then no doubt humans will surely die.


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Australian bushfire and its impact on Water Bodies

Image
Overview: The Australian bushfire in late 2019 and early 2020 had created many environmental issues. The fire has released a large number of aerosol particles into the air which eventually affected the South Pacific Ocean. Researchers had done many satellite observations and surveyed the coastal deposition of these particles and their biochemical reaction to the water. Four types of aerosol particles were detected: wildfire smoke, mineral dust, background aerosols and residual smoke. In the Tasman Sea, in November 2019 it was concluded that 60% of mineral dust was made up of coarse particles.  After the wildfire, these particles had affected a large amount of the atmosphere in eastern Australia, Southern Pacific water and even South America. 98.9% of smoke was made up of fine particles. These mineral dust and smoke particles emitted from the fire changed the composition of the surface ocean. The decomposition of these mineral particles resulted in an increase in the concentration o...
Read more

How Noise Pollution affects the Marine Life

Image
Humans are creating a lot of noise everywhere. This noise pollution also affects marine life. Most marine animals are very sensitive to sound. Soundwaves can travel to a much longer distance in the water. These noises can prevent marine animals to predict their preys, communicate with their local groups, and sometimes prevent them to mate. Sonar technologies can be called one of the main reason for decreasing marine species. Dolphins and Whales are the most affected species due to noise pollution. Whales had to leave their feeding and mating areas due to the noise, they have experienced heavy stress in the noisy water areas. Apart from these two, lobsters, crabs, tortoises and many other smaller fish species are affected due to noise pollution. Fishes communicate with each other through low-frequency sound waves which humans can't hear. Human created noises like sonar, ship horns, fishing noise, etc make it difficult to communicate with each other. Ship horns can travel hundreds of...
Read more