Marine Pollution

Were you ever swimming in the ocean when you felt something touch your leg in the water? You immediately assumed it was an animal but it turned out to be a plastic bag, an empty water bottle, or even a torn off band-aid... gross! Unfortunately that happens to all of us at Bikini Bottom sometimes and we are trying to teach people that throwing trash into our home and other homes in the ocean is not okay!

Figure 1

Not everybody likes school I know, some days I don't like going to boating school either, but it is good to learn! I am going to teach you about Marine Pollution. It is basically all the garbage that is found in the ocean and on beaches, and we are going to discuss where it all comes from. There are over 8 million tons of trash dumped into the ocean every year(1). That's enough garbage to fill up a football field over 20 times!

Figure 2, all the garbage in Bikini Bottom

Beach Goers

One of the main reasons that there is so much Marine Pollution is because of people who go to the beach(2). Who doesn't love the beach? It's a relaxing and fun place to get away from home. One problem with people going to the beach, is that they don't pick up their garbage. Adults and children are constantly leaving behind their snack wrappers, empty cans, and water bottles, which really hurts us down at Bikini Bottom.

Figure 3

Farms Near Beaches

Another place that pollution comes from is from farms that are near the beaches. You may wonder how farms hurt the ocean but I will break it down for you. Pollution in the ocean doesn't just have to be garbage, it can be chemicals too(3). Many farmers who grow crops need to protect them and make sure bugs don't eat them while they are growing! One way that they protect crops is by spraying chemicals onto them. These chemicals are called fertilizers and they are extremely hurtful to the environment. Figure 3 shows a tractor spraying fertilizer over a crop field. When it rains, these chemicals wash off the fruits and vegetables and make their way to the ocean! Once they are in the ocean, it makes a lot of us very sick, we have trouble breathing, eating, and sleeping(4).

Figure 4, Flying Dutchman's ship

Ships and Boats

A third place that Marine Pollution comes from is off of ships and boats(5). Have any of you ever been on a cruise ship? They are massive boats that have tons of things to do, but have you ever thought off where the ships extra food goes, or did you think about where your toilet water is going after you flush? Ships and boats are constantly dumping garbage and waste into the ocean and it's not fair to us! There are however many rules that shipping places need to follow in order to keep their trash out of the ocean but sometimes they don't follow the laws(6). Even the Flying Dutchman's ship is leaving garbage behind sometimes, we are always telling him to pick it up.

Figure 5, Spongebob sick from trash

Marine Pollution is hard to pick up once too much is in Bikini Bottom, it leaves a lot of us sick and tired sometimes because it makes our town so dirty. In Figure 5, is a picture of me when I was sick from the pollution. Remember to always throw out your trash in the correct garbage bins, and recycle plastics when you have the chance! Marine Pollution is a bad thing we have to deal with, but don't worry! We don't want to be sick, we want to stay happy and healthy! So if you remember to throw your trash away at the beach, recycle your empty containers, and remind others to follow the rules you will help us more and more every single day, and we will be able to keep Bikini Bottom clean!