Pollutants in the Ocean Sewage Stormwater runoff Oil/petroleum products Industrial pollutants & metals (includes mercury and lead) Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Dumping (of dredge materials and trash) Nutrients

Sewage Nutrients Fecal coliforms, fecal Streptococci, & enterococcus bacteria Pharmaceuticals (estrogens, antidepressants), caffeine Suspended particulate matter (increases turbidity)

Stormwater Runoff Sediments Trash Nutrients Oil Pesticides Herbicides Sewage Animal waste Pinellascounty.org Modmobilian.com

Oil/Petroleum Pollution Large scale oil spills (Deepwater Horizon, Torrey Canyon, Exxon Valdez) Small scale spills (spills at oil terminals, groundings of small vessels, routine release of oil from offshore drilling activities) Vessel operations (illegal tank cleanouts, discharges) Municipal and industrial effluents Natural seeps whoi.edu

Oil/Petroleum Pollution

Trash

Threats to Wildlife Swallowing plastic debris Entanglement

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) POP = a substance that possess toxic property and resists degradation Examples: DDT, lindane, PCBs, dioxins Stored in the fatty tissue and organs of animals Can disrupt endocrine system, case cancer or genetic defects, weaken immune systems

sustainable-nano.com

Metals Do not decompose under normal environmental conditions and can accumulate in the environment and in living tissues

Mercury contamination in the sea

Nutrient Enrichment/Eutrophication

Effects of Eutrophication Algal overgrowth of marine ecosystems Hypoxia and formation of dead zones Stimulation of HABs

Disease in the Marine Environment Affects organisms ranging from coralline algae to manatees Infectious diseases are transmitted by pathogens Lack Information on disease processes Dynamics of host population regulation Factors that promote disease emergence and outbreak Mechanisms of pathogen transmission

Causes of Disease Viruses Are the most abundant plankton in the sea Hosts include bacterioplankton and phytoplankton Have a significant impact on primary production in the sea Fungi Slime molds Bacteria Protozoans HABs

Effects of Disease Changes in community structure Catastrophic population declines Seaotters.com

Is Disease on the Rise? Ex. GTFP (green turtle fibropapillomas)

Role of Climate Change and Humans in Marine Diseases Two ways climate change and humans can increase the occurrence of marine disease Increase the rate of contact between novel pathogens and susceptible hosts Examples: Transmission of canine distemper virus from sled dogs in Antarctica to crab-eater seals; harbor seals infected with influenza virus A (New England) and influenza virus B (Netherlands) Altering the environment in favor of the pathogen Examples: Spread of Dermo from warm southern waters to warming waters along Atlantic coast; corals have increased susceptibility to an infectious cyanobacteria during warm water associated bleaching events; polluted habitats increase organisms’ susceptibility to disease

Disease and Biodiversity Sometimes disease outbreaks can increase biodiversity (Ex. Sea urchins in kelp forests; crown-of-thorns starfish on coral reefs) Is growing concern that the increase in the frequency and impact of disease outbreaks will negatively affect biodiversity, but hard to predict extent of effects Disease-mediated extinction is likely to be rare

Marine Disease Research Priorities Long-term monitoring Better understanding of disease dynamics Consideration of diseases in marine reserves

Oyster Disease Dermo (protozoan parasite, Perkinsus marinus); MSX haplosporid multinucleated sphere, Haplosporidium nelsoni)

Coral Disease

Seagrass Disease Wasting disease (marine slime mold-like protist Labyrinthula zosterae) Responsible for catastrophic (90%) loss of eelgrass along Atlantic coasts of North America and Europe in 1930s. Zostera marina NOAA