Overview

Suyash

Plastic waste is littering our oceans and threatening the lives of millions of marine
animals. Seals, whales, dolphins, seabirds, fish, crabs and many other animals are
dying and becoming sick because of this deadly environmental concern.
Microplastics are a major part of the issue. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic
which come from larger plastics that have degraded over time. Marine animals
often eat microplastics because of their small size. Plastic contains toxic chemicals,
which can increase the chance of disease and affect reproduction. After ingesting
microplastics, seals, and other animals can suffer for months or even years before
they die. In 2014, an estimated 15 to 51 trillion microplastic particles were floating
in the world’s oceans, weighing between 93,000 and 236,000 tonnes.

Seals

Jovais

Marine life can become entangled in a variety of ocean debris including fishing
nets, lines, and lures. Still, there are a number of seals and sea lions that
become entangled in plastic bags or plastic packing bands leading to injury
and death. In fact, plastic packing bands and rubber bands continue to deeply
impact the Steller Sea Lion population. An eight-year study in Southeast
Alaska and British Columbia documented 388 sea lions entangled in plastic
debris. These plastic packing bands and rubber bands can become so
embedded in the animal that it can lead to severe infection and death.

Abiotic and Biotic

Jovais
 Some of the abiotic factors that may affect the seals ecosystem:
● Weather
● Water temperatures
● Global warming
Some of the biotic factors that may affect the seals ecosystem:
● Bacteria
● Sharks
● Lack of fish
These factors can affect the carrying capacity in the seals by putting negative or
positive effects on their ecosystem.

Homeostasis
Suyash

Tainted waters reduce amount of sunlight require to maintain the desired ecosystem
for planktons underwater. Pollution debris such as plastic, fish nets, chemicals, gets
consumed by sea life and is bad for their health and also is responsible for killing all
marine life.

Human Impact
Chloe
Human pollution significantly affects the oceans. In the 1980s, travelers passing
through the Pacific Ocean began to notice areas containing a high concentration of
plastic trash, apparently collected by the ocean's natural currents into one area. The
so-called Pacific Trash Vortex may contain up to 1.9 million pieces of trash per
square mile, and a similar patch of garbage exists in the northern Atlantic. In
addition, oil spills such as the one resulting from the Deepwater Horizon fire in
2010 can contaminate large stretches of the ocean, wiping out entire populations of
fish and other species, and affecting the regional ecosystem for decades. 

Chloe

The importance of the ecosystem depends on the amount of predators against seals. With
no sharks to maintain the seals the ecosystem would get out of hand.