The Threats

75% of our planet's surface is under water. Dolphins, porpoises, and whales are faced with a serious threat they have no control over which is pollution. Which are marine debris and invisible toxins humans create every day. 

The Pollution Problem

Marine debris is anything from a discarded sandwich bag to a lost fishing net. Every ocean in the world is littered with some form of debris, which resembles food for marine life. Many animals accidentally eat marine debris causing internal injury, intestinal blockage, and starvation.

Getting tangled up in floating debris is another serious and growing problem for marine mammals, at least 43% each year. Entanglement is an especially serious threat to young marine mammals that tend to be curious and careless. Once a young animals becomes entangled, it dies a slow and painful death as its growing body is restricted by debris.

Almost everything we use has the potential to become marine debris, from the bottle of milk in the refrigerator to the refrigerator itself. The largest source of marine debris is runoff from land-based sources, such as storm sewers and parking lots. That means the garbage we create each day is most likely what will end up in the oceans affecting dolphins, whales, and other marine life.

Toxins enter the marine environment through land-based runoff and air pollution as well as ocean dumping. Things we use every day, like automobiles, air-conditioners, and household products, create many toxins. Researchers routinely find high levels of toxins in the blubber of stranded marine mammals.

For years we dumped heavy metals and organic pollutants into our oceans thinking it was a resource so vast it could absorb any and all materials. It now seems that the oceans are finally becoming saturated. The evidence is in the marine life itself. Fish, turtles, and most recently, dolphins are now growing cancerous tumors. There is also evidence that pollution in our oceans is weakening the immune systems of marine mammals.