OCEANS IN DANGER

We use the ocean for many things. We snorkel in it, we eat food from it, we purify water and drink from it, but we also harm it. We dump our trash in it too. This is called pollution, or contamination.

HOW WE POLLUTE THE OCEAN

• We leave bottle caps on the beach
• We leave plastic bags to float around and animals mistake it for food
• Fishermen leave nets in the ocean that capture not only fish but turtles and dolphins
• Companies will sometimes take trash to the landfill and then it leads to the ocean slowly
• We put our trash in the gutter which will occasionally open out into the ocean

RECAP-HOW IT HARMS ANIMALS

• Turtles will eat plastic bags, assuming that it is jellyfish
• Dolphins and turtles and even small whales will get caught in stranded nets
• Animals will be swimming in harmful substances

SOME VOCAB (POLLUTION)

• Gyres-"Islands " of floating trash in the ocean
• Sustainable-Something that is produced in a way that doesn't harm the environment
• Pollution-Dirt, waste, gas, and chemicals that dirty the ocean and are not part of its natural chemistry

A lot of people love to eat fish. But, fish doesn’t miraculously appear on the table. It has to be caught. 75% of the world’s population eats seafood. That’s a lot of fish being caught. And without fish, there are problems in the ocean. People catch more fish than can be reproduced by remaining fish.This is called overfishing.

FACTS ON OVERFISHING

• 90% of the world's big fish are gone.
• Sharks and killer whales are having less and less to eat
• Tens of millions of sharks are killed, have their fins taken off, and thrown back into the ocean each year
• The average Australian eats 25 kilos of seafood per year.
• 70% of the world's fish stocks are fully exploited.

SOME VOCAB (OVERFISHING)

• Bottom Trawling- A way of fishing where the nets are dragged along the sea bed to catch lots of fish
• Fishery- Area of the sea in which many fish are normally caught.
• Overfishing- When people catch more fish than can be reproduced by remIning fish.

OVERFISHING CAUSES ALGAE OVERGROWTH

• The fish get caught in large amounts
• The fish's food is other fish AND algae
• With no fish, the algae grows...
• And grows....
• And it reproduces. Voila! You've got algae overgrowth

There is a type of algae that is particularly harmful. It is called fire weed. It causes itching, rashes, and stinging, and is mainly found in Australia, along with red tide. Red tide is a discoloration of sea water caused by a toxic bloom single celled organism that occur in large numbers in marine plankton.

OIL IS IN THIS!

• Lipstick
• Rubber Ducks
• Gum
• Aspirin
• Crayons

CORAL REEFS

Coral reefs house 1/3 of the ocean's animals. These days, coral reefs are facing the threat of bleaching, and being destroyed to peices.When we take coral from the ocean we are destroying at least 100 years of work, if not more.

SURPRISING CORAL FACTS

• The Great Barrier Reef, Australia, at 344,400 sq. km. is the largest coral reef in the world
• An individual coral is known as a polyp
• Some coral reefs extend to 450 ft. deep!
• Coral reefs are second to rainforests in biodiversity of species

SOME VOCAB (CORAL REEFS)

• Bleaching- When something, such as coral, looses it's color and turns white.
• Fringing Reefs- Reefs near the shore.
• Atoll Reefs- Coral reefs that are circular in shape.
• Shellfish- Coral polyps which make coral like crab and lobsters.

THE END!