Ocean Life and the Impact Of Humans. An overview of the Gulf of Mexico - Research Paper Example

?Introduction Oceans are important aquatic habitats for both marine fauna and flora. The wide diversity of life in these crucial habitats plays important environmental and economic roles. Marine life is also a major component of various natural processes including hydrological and carbon cycles that play a crucial role in maintaining life in the planet. However, due to the crucial economic importance of aquatic resources, there has been an upsurge of human activities including tourism, mining, fishing and other industries in these habitats. These human activities have regrettably diminished ocean life through unsustainable practices such as overexploitation of the resources and introduction of pollutants. This paper explores ocean life in the Gulf of Mexico, with special focus on the effects of human activities on the diversity and conservation measures in the region. An overview of the Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most important oceanic habitats in Northern America and has one of the richest aquatic diversity in the world. In addition, it has rich reserves of petroleum deposits making it one of the biggest oil producing regions in the world. The rich ecological diversity offers numerous social and economic opportunities, including tourism, navigation, recreation and mining of petroleum and gas that contribute significantly to the gross domestic product of the United States and Mexico. The entire Mexican gulf covers an area of about 600,000 squares miles, extending from the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico to Florida Keys in the United States (Weber, Townsend and Bierce, 1992). A recent biological survey of the biodiversity in the Gulf of Mexico undertaken by GMP (2010) recorded 15,419 species that belong to 40 phyla. The marine life ranges from single cellular organisms to plants, seaweeds and fungi, in addition to a wide variety of vertebrate and invertebrates animals. The rich biodiversity is distributed across three major habitats, including the shoreline or the coast, the shallow sea and the open or deep ocean. The coastal region consists of important habitats, including beaches, sand dunes, estuaries, mangrove swamps, salt marshes and tidal flats. The gulf of Mexico coastline offers a wide range of aquatic plants including the mangrove, diverse varieties of plants and algae including turtle, manatee, shoal and widgeon grasses in addition to sargassum sea weeds. The coastline forms an important habitat for aquatic near shore animals, including corals, sea turtles, dolphins and various species of whales, fish and sharks (GMP, 2010). NOAA (2006) classifies species of animals found in the Gulf of Mexico according to the water depths that they mostly occur. From this classification, there are near shore and offshore animals. The habitat of near shore animals ranges from the estuarine waters to the edge of continental shelf and it covers a distance of less than 200 meters from the shelf edge. Offshore animals occupy deep waters that lie beyond 200 meters from the continental shelf. However, this animal distribution varies depending on the seasons because of migration between these areas for various reasons including reproduction and depending on food availability, water temperatures and strength of ocean currents (NOAA, 2006). The aquatic plants and animals in the Gulf of Mexico have established important biological relationships in the ecosystem. Aquatic plants and algae are the primary food producers in the marine ecosystem providing sustenance for a wide variety of marine animals (Allan and David 2007). For instance, turtle grass in the Gulf of Mexico is common source of food to sea turtles. Through photosynthesis, the aquatic plants and algae produces oxygen that dissolves in water. The dissolved oxygen is used for respiration by the wide diversity aquatic animals in the gulf. In addition, anaerobic bacteria use the dissolved oxygen in the decomposition of organic matter in the water bodies. Similarly, aquatic animals provide the plants with carbon dioxide as a by-product of respiration that is used for photosynthesis. Aquatic animals provide the plants with organic matter from their excretory products. Aquatic animals’ excreta have rich concentration of ammonia, nitrates and phosphorous, important minerals for growth and development of plants. The utilization of ammonia and other dissolved organic matter by plants helps in lowering the pH of water in the marine ecosystems. This ensures maintenance of a relatively stable ionic concentration in the aquatic environment for survival of both animals and plants (Allan and David 2007). Aquatic plants provide a favorable habitat for wide variety animals. In the Gulf of Mexico, mangroves trees form a dense canopy and root network in the coastline (National Ocean Service and NOAA, 2008). The dense root network is firmly grounded on the substrate and they act as a barrier for strong ocean currents and tides. In addition, mangrove trees trap the debris brought by the tides. The trapped debris provides a favorable habitat for the growth of other plants, such as seaweeds and grasses. This creates a favorable shelter for onshore animals to reproduce. Therefore, a wide variety of aquatic animals and birds use these habitats for laying their eggs and as foraging grounds. According to GMP (2010), aquatic animals such as sea turtles and dolphins are densely populated along nearshore coastal waters because of favorable shelter against strong currents and tides. This makes the coastline suitable for nesting and a good breeding site because of the availability of food for the hatchlings. Pollution leads to a drastic change in the population of marine life due to sudden change of the aquatic environment balance. This includes change in water temperature, pH, intensity of ocean currents, dissolved gases and availability of food and necessary minerals for growth and development (GMP 2010). There are various human activities threatening the diversity at the Gulf of Mexico. They include overfishing, extensive farming on the catchment areas along major rivers such as Mississippi that drains into the gulf and drilling of petroleum and natural gas on the seabed. Other activities that undermine the rich aquatic diversity in the region include commercial and recreational fishing (National Ocean Service and NOAA, 2008). The Gulf of Mexico contains a rich assortment of natural landscapes, suitable for agriculture and urbanization. Some of the most important landscapes include the Mississippi alluvial plains, southern Texas plains, western gulf coastal plains, southeastern plains, southern coastal plains, and southern Florida coastal plains. These areas are some of the most important agricultural regions in the southern United States and besides farming activities high population growth has resulted into fast development of urban centers. Extensive agricultural activities in these catchment areas involve heavy application of fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides and other toxic farming chemicals. The agricultural chemicals and human organic wastes are eventually deposited in the waters at the Gulf of Mexico through surface water runoff, leading to an increased concentration of nitrates, phosphorous, toxic elements and heavy metals in the aquatic ecosystem (GMP, 2010). The nutrients accelerate the growth of aquatic plants, phytoplankton and algae leading to eutrophication. This process reduces the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water a situation that contributes to development of hypoxia or dead zones in the water of the Mexican gulf (Weber, Townsend and Bierce 1992). The “Dead Zone” is unsuitable for survival of fish, shellfish and other aquatic animals due to depleted oxygen concentration. Mississippi river watershed delivers of sediments, one of the highest sources of nutrients and agricultural chemical pollutants from the farms in the upper regions. The toxic chemicals and heavy metals poison aquatic animals causing accumulation of higher toxicity along the food chains (Allan and David 2007). Widespread logging and clearing of vegetation to create more agricultural land increases the rate of soil erosion in the catchment areas along the Gulf of Mexico. Consequently, large volumes of alluvial sediments are deposited into the water destroying the coral reefs and aquatic habitats of marine life (GMP, 2010). The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused heavy ecological damage on the biodiversity of the region. The oil gush contaminated the breeding grounds of sea turtles, birdlife, sharks, alligators and shellfish along the coastlines of Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. In addition, the oil damaged feathers and wings of most aquatic birds leading to high death rate. Moreover, the spill reduced the concentration of oxygen especially in the dead zones, killing fish and destroying algae and other aquatic plants (GMP, 2010). The oil industry continues to be a major threat in the gulf and unless the operations are stopped, future heavy ecological damages in future are likely to recur. Other threats to the region’s biodiversity include commercial and recreational fishing. Commercial fishing is a multibillion enterprise that supports many livelihoods in the region. Shrimps, crabs, oysters and fish are main catch supporting commercial fishing in the region (National Ocean Service, NOAA 2008). However, use of unregulated fishing gears and recreational fishing has resulted to drastic reduction of many aquatic animals. Some of the critically endangered fish include smalltooth sawfish, speckled hind, and warsaw grouper. Turtle species such as kemp’s ridley, hawks bill and leather back are critically endangered animals in the Gulf of Mexico. Other endangered turtle species include the green sea turtle, Alabama red belly turtle and loggerhead turtle. Human activities also destroy breeding and foraging grounds of turtles and other aquatic animals. Other endangered animals in the gulf include great hammerhead sharks, whale shark, sand tiger shark and spiny dogfish. In addition, finback whale, sperm whale and West Indian manatee are some of endangered whale species in the region (NOAA 2006). Conclusion Various governmental and non-governmental organizations in Mexico and United States have put several measures to protect the biodiversity in the Gulf of Mexico. These include listing and identification of endangered species and enforcing recovery strategies to reclaim destroyed habitats and threatened aquatic organisms (GMP 2010). Regulating fishing by limiting annual catch limits of any given species and establishing the standards of fishing gear is important to prevent overfishing. Farmers along the water catchment areas of the Gulf of Mexico should be encouraged to practice sustainable agricultural practices such as prevention of soil erosion and minimal use of agricultural inputs. Drilling of oil and natural gas should be regulated strictly to minimize accidental spills in the ocean. Individual persons can enhance protective measures of the rich biodiversity by creating environmental awareness to all stakeholders in the region. Continuation of unsustainable human activities in the Gulf of Mexico will lead to loss of habitats and extinction of marine life. This would create economic and environmental catastrophe in the entire region. References Allan, B., and David, H. (2007). Marine freshwater and wetlands biodiversity conservation. New York: Springer-Verlag. GMP (Gulf of Mexico program).(2010). General facts about the Gulf of Mexico. Retrieved on 10 August 2011. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/gmpo/about/facts.html National Ocean Service, NOAA. (2008). Gulf of Mexico at a Glance. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). (2006). An overview of protected species commonly found in the Gulf of Mexico. Washington, DC. NOAA Fisheries Service. Retrieved from http://www.offshoreoperators.com/marinedebris/Protected-Species-In-GOM-NOAA.pdf Weber, M., Townsend, R., and Bierce, R.(1992). Environmental quality in the Gulf of Mexico. 2nd ed. Washington, DC. Centre for Marine Conservation. Read More