Unit 4: Part 2: Oceans

Question 1

What happened at the Exxon Valdez Disaster, Alaska, 1989?

Answer 1

Major oil tanker spill
- 1,300 miles of coastline were hit by the oil spill
- Required over 10,000 workers
- 4 deaths were associated with the cleanup efforts
- Caused over $300m of economic harm to more than 30,000 people who depending on commercial fishing for their livelihood
- 12 years later, oil could still be found on half the 91 beaches surveyed

Thousands of otters, seals, seabirds and fish died

Exxon had to pay $4.3b on top of $2b spent on previous cleaning efforts ($6.3b total)

Cleaning methods used were burning, etc

Question 2

How can oil spills be managed?

Answer 2

Booms (temporary floating barriers)

Skimmers
Chemical ulsifiers

Setting oil on fire

Clay & straw absorption

Nanofibrillated cellulose (sponge made from weed)

Question 3

Some key facts about plastic pollution in the ocean?

Answer 3

Plastics constitute 90% of all rubbish floating in oceans

The UN Environmental Programme estimate that for every sq mile of ocean there are 46,000 pieces of floating plastic

Plastic does not decompose, they just break down into smaller fragments known as ‘microplastics’

Plastic production is increasing

Question 4

Why has plastic production increased so dramatically?

Answer 4

Containerisation

Globalisation

Cheaper

Increase in single-use products

Question 5

How does plastic get into our oceans?

Answer 5

Litter

Down the plugholes

Landfills

Question 6

What is a Gyre?

Answer 6

Large system of floating ocean currents.

Question 7

How do Gyres cause garbage patches?

Answer 7

Pulls objects into location, often the centre, forming patches

Question 8

What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

Answer 8

Location in North Pacific Gyre and between Hawaii and California

Estimated 3.2million tonnes of trash

Estimated size of Texas by some accounts

Question 9

What factors will result in high levels of ocean eutrophication?

Answer 9

Waste disposal in coastal areas

Acidification

Question 10

Summarise the case study of Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone

Answer 10

Size of Delaware

Pollution comes from nutrients entering the water from runoff containing nutrients and wastewater

Impacts can be reduced by restoring wetlands

Question 11

Economic Importance of the Belize Barrier Reef to Belize?

Answer 11

• The Belize Barrier Reef is the second largest coral reef system in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, making it is Belize’s top tourist destination.

• Popular for scuba diving and snorkeling and attracting almost half of its 260,000 visitors.

• The reef is also vital to the country’s fishing industry.

• About 200,000 Belizeans are dependent on the reef for their livelihood.

Question 12

Anthropogenic Threats to the Belize Barrier Reef?

Answer 12

In 2009 the Reef was identified by UNESCO ‘in Danger’ following concerns about:
• overfishing

• tourist damage to reef

• mangrove destruction

• off-shore oil extraction

Question 13

Management of Threats to the Belize Barrier Reef?

Answer 13

Fishing
The Belize Fisheries Department acts in the following way:

• monitoring for reef health, commercial species populations, seagrass and mangrove productivity

• set sustainable fishing quotas and enforce the fisheries laws and
regulations throughout the country

• educate fishers and the tour guides as they have direct impacts on the resources on a daily bases.

Tourism management
Belize has been at the forefront of developing ‘ecotourism’.

The Sustainable Tourism Program (STP) - part of the government funded Belize Tourist Board :
• zoned the country in terms of tourist development. Sensitive coastal areas now have very restrictive regulations over development and new tourist development is encourage in low ecologically sensitive areas

• working with the Belize Tourist Industry Association (BTIA) the STP
has educate tour operators and tour guides in best practice to reduce
environmental impacts. For example reducing deaths and injuries to
manatees by boat propellers.

Oil Management

• In December 2015, Belize Government put a permanent oil moratorium across the entire Belize offshore waters to reduce the risk of pollution

Question 15

Threats that exist for the Belize Barrier Reef?

Answer 15

Bleaching events becoming more extreme each year

Future hurricanes

Anthropogenic climate change causing acidification and bleaching, as well as overfishing

Question 16

To what extent has Belize successfully managed their reef?

Answer 16

Nursery, once it blooms, they will out plant them on top of other corals

Seaweed farming is a more sustainable form of livelihood and protects the oceans biodiversity

Schools in fishing communities are teaching science, agriculture and other skills to help pursue other livelihoods