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Ever been on a cruise ship? Luxurious, isn't it? Well, while you're enjoying yourself, other organisms are
dying...because of the way the cruise ships handle their waste. Every cruise line dumps their waste into the ocean/lakes/rivers
every week.
These wastewaters are black water, which is the sewage part of the waste from toilettes, and gray water,
which is the utility waste water from shower and sink drains. Not only are those dumped, but hazardous wastes and oily bilge
waters are also deposited into the ocean. The releases of hazardous wastes result in the scarring, death, and deformation
of fish and other marine organisms. Each week, 200,000 gallons of black water and 100,000 gallons of gray water are dumped
into the cerulean expanses.
The overabundance of nutrients in the ocean created from the waste are a prime condition
for algae to grow. That was part of the reason why in 2005, there was a very high amount of red tide (red tide is red algae).
Red tide is poisonous and harmful to all living organisms other than humans. The overabundance of red algae depletes the water
of oxygen, which creates dead zones, which are areas in the water that can no longer support organisms. These dead zones are
everywhere, not just in one spot-and they aren't little 3 by 4 spots. Dead zones can be miles in area. See http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ocea...
for more info.
All of this is happening all around the world! The best thing we can do is to stop
the dumping completely in the US boundaries RIGHT NOW. Why?
Well, because in a matter of years, fish will be forever scarred,
deformed, and species will be dying out, creating more organisms on the
endangered and extinct species list. Every species
is important. If we lose any species of organisms, there will be consequences. It may not seem like it will effect us now,
but it will in the future. If we eat poisoned fish, what will happen to us? Even if we can separate these poisoned fish, the
number of clean fish available will decrease.
If we don't stop this now, the ocean will be so polluted that no organisms
will be able to survive anywhere. This will hurt organisms that need
marine life to survive, including humans. When a
condition allows some to eat only fish, the fish will contain so many diseases, and the water will be so toxic, that those
people will not be able to eat meat. There will be so many avian flu cases starting from fish-eating birds. This pollution
will get so out of control, it will eventually destroy the eco system.
Please support our cause to help cease this problem by encouraging cruise ship companies to look for other
solutions besides dumping its sewage off our shores.
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"We are ocean, period. Seventy percent of the world is ocean and eighty percent of global biodiversity is in
it. We need to take care of the ocean. No matter where we are, we depend on it.”
hear Jimmy Buffet in a Video message about the Manatee's also check out their link
at http://www.savethemanatee.org/ there you will find alot of interesting facts as well
click here to play video
Manatee (Trichechus manatus)
Status: Endangered
The total Manatee population size is currently estimated to number less than 10,000 (based on combined estimates
for the Florida and Antillean subspecies). Both subspecies (T. m. latirostris and T. m. manatus) are listed
as Endangered based on their small population sizes (fewer than 2,500 for each subspecies) and ongoing declines. Florida manatees
(T. m. latirostris) are found only in the United States, although a few vagrants have been known to reach the Bahamas.
Their year-round distribution is restricted to peninsular Florida because they need warm water to survive the winter. During
the non-winter months (March to November), some manatees disperse to adjoining states. The Antillean Manatee (T. m. manatus)
inhabits riverine and coastal systems in the tropical and subtropical Western Atlantic Coastal Zone from the Bahamas to Brazil,
including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
Threats to the manatee encompass catastrophic natural events and anthropogenic factors that could cause declines
in reproductive and survival rates or declines in the carrying capacity of the environment. About half of adult mortality
range-wide is attributable to human-related causes, primarily watercraft collisions. The future of the Florida manatee is
also jeopardized by the predicted loss and deterioration of warm-water habitat, including retirement or deregulation of aging
power plants and reduction in natural spring flows. Other direct threats include entanglement (in fishing gear or debris),
entrapment in water-control structures and pipes, exposure to contaminants, incidental ingestion of debris, and crushing (in
flood-control structures, in canal locks, or between large ships and docks).
Naturally occurring catastrophic threats to manatees include prolonged periods of very cold temperatures,
hurricanes, harmful algal blooms (i.e., “red tide”), and the potential for disease.
In the 20 years following the fire onboard the angelina lauro,which sunk in the US Virgin islands in march 1979,"The
Safety Board has investigated 25 major accidents involving foreign cruise ships operating from US ports. of those 25 accidents,16
involved fires.As a result of those fire-involved accidents,there were 8
fatalities,210 personal injuries,and over $175 million in property damage."
-Jim Hall, US National Transportation Safety Board, October 7,1999
In 1989 collision of carnival cruise lines celebration with cuban cement freighter,resulting in three deaths on
the freghter
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