Ocean pollution can come in many forms. It can result from oil tankers spilling oil, boats sinking, or even ocean litter. Large or small, ocean debris can cause problems for both sea life and humans. Garbage gets into the ocean when people dump it off boats and litter beaches, but it also can reach the ocean from rivers, storm drains, or ocean dumping of industrial waste. Eventually all water on land flows toward the sea.

Besides being ugly to look at, a lot of ocean debris, like plastic bottles, bags, Styrofoam peanuts, old fishing wire, and nets are quite dangerous to wildlife. Whales and dolphins eat plastic bags thinking they are squid, sea turtles and ocean birds eat Styrofoam peanuts that block their digestive tracts, and abandoned fishing nets tangle and drown thousands of seals every year. Even human swimmers and divers can get tangled in dumped nets and drown.

GREENHOUSE GASES: Greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone; too much of these in our atmosphere leads to increased warming, as in a greenhouse.

Did You Know?

Gas Spills at Home

More gas is spilled every year when people fill up their lawnmowers, weed trimmers, and chippers than was spilled in the whole Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Other dangerous ocean pollutants include human sewage, oil spilled at sea, and medical waste dumped in the ocean. These hazards endanger both ocean animals and human swimmers and wash up on our beaches. Fish and shellfish become so toxic from eating pollutants that they are not safe for people to catch and eat either. This affects lobstermen and fishermen's livelihoods.

Despite all efforts, sometimes spills happen. On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez, a huge oil tanker, hit a reef in Prince William Sound in Alaska. The hull of the ship cracked open and spilled more than 11 million gallons of crude oil into the sound. That oil spill was the largest in U.S. history. A spill that large is very bad anywhere, but a spill in Prince William Sound was even harder to deal with because there was so much wildlife to save and clean up. Afterward, Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. It made stricter rules for oil tankers, their owners, and captains. The tankers have to have stronger hulls and ship captains have to be in better contact with vessel traffic centers. No one wants a spill like that to happen ever again.