As long as there has been human's settlements along the coast, people

have been dumping garbage and other forms of waste into the ocean. It

seemed for a period of time that the oceans could absorb the vast

amounts of waste that we were dumping into it but we were wrong. It is

now only centuries later we are beginning to realize that ‘Ocean

Dumping’ has serious long-term effects.

Ocean dumping is the release of harmful mater into the Ocean as well

as rivers and streams that run into the oceans. This mater can affect the

marine ecosystem on many different levels. A significant increase of

mater could lead to long term rises in the levels of water mutagens,

pathogens, teratogens, and radioactive materials.

Throughout history a number of legal actions have been taken in order

to end Ocean Dumping, but until recent years the efforts have been

futile. Until now it has been very difficult for activists to take large

companies to court, and the amount of red tape has made it difficult for

activists to proceed through their local M.P.’s. It has only been in the

last few years that regulations have been put in place to minimize the

damage already felt by the ocean.

During the fight to save the ocean a number of new alarming facts have

risen, ocean dumping is not short term, in fact a number of specific

regions of the ocean have been completely destroyed by garbage. There

ecosystems striped bare, the water containing so many chemicals that it

can no longer support life. Secondly the impact is not localized, the

sludge is being distributed to all areas of the ocean by currents and

winds, each day new land is affected by the waste that we felt was

harmless. It is now believed that Ocean Dumping can be very harmful to

the environment. Adult lobsters for example, are in danger of loosing

their habitat, as the ‘sludge’ settles to the bottom of the ocean it

leaves a film on all it comes in contact with. At time garbage fills the

small crevices and holes which used to be home for the lobsters. Clams

and sea otter populations are also devastated by ocean dumping, their

fragile existence is forever changed when the waste first affects them.

When the sea otters are covered by the characterized film they are no

longer able to retain their body heat, rendering their body completely

vulnerable to predators and disease. Clams are also affected by Ocean

dumping, they can be completely wiped out as the sediment falls and

rests on them.