Fins and Flippers: How Water sports are harming the marine environment

The Marine ecosystem, is the largest part of the aquatic ecosystem, it includes marshes, tidal zones, estuaries, the mangrove forest, lagoons, sea grass beds, the sea floor, and the coral reefs. Fishes, starfish, jelly fish, crustaceans and polyps are all found in the marine ecosystem.  There are invertebrates and millions of zooplankton which are eaten by marine mammals and fishes. In coastal areas, usually sea is shallow whereas at other places, it is very deep. 

Marine environment faces a lot of threat in today’s industrialised world. Water pollution, eutrophication, overfishing etc. are some of the causes for deterioration of marine health. There are multiple reasons as to why these problems take place. One of the reasons for disturbance in marine life is due to ‘Water sports’. Water sports and recreational activities include wide variety of leisurely activities such as boating, Jet ski, snorkelling, fishing and many more. These are undoubtedly a superior tourist attraction bringing economic prosperity to the country, however, everything has a downside. Let’s discuss some ways water sports are harmful to the marine environment.

NOISE POLLUTION: The ocean soundscape is severely affected by noise pollution generated. This maybe due to  offshore construction, shipping and motorboats. They affect marine animals by disrupting the acoustic communication between animals, causing acute stress to them as it takes away their sensory power. [1]

CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION: A fairly unnoticeable source of damage to marine ecosystem is through chemicals that get mixed with ocean waters unintentionally. How this happens is that boats or motorboats are to be kept preserved from rusting and hence chemicals used to clean, protect, and run watercraft get released in the water bodies. Such a chemical release of compounds such as zinc or elements such as copper that deteriorate the pH level of water which may not be suitable for marine wildlife. Detergents that are used to clean watercraft can cause impairment in breathing for fishes. [2]

MARINE DEBRIS: Marine debris includes plastics, food wastes, packaging, lines, nets, fish cleaning wastes that are disposed during recreational and commercial water sports. These take years to decompose and persist in the environment for a long time. Asian countries have large amounts of marine debris disposed off every year in the oceans. These marine debris are responsible for choking or strangling of sea animals, may act as ghosts nets trapping marine animals and also ruin the landscape of recreational beaches. [3]

SHORELINE EROSION: Shoreline erosion can be caused by propeller turbulence from boats operating in near shore areas which erode shorelines by destabilising the bottom. It depends on height and size of watercraft as to how large the shoreline erosion is. Boats and the waves generated by it that dissipate at shores are the primary factor that cause shoreline erosion. [4]

DAMAGE TO PLANT COMMUNITIES: Water sport equipments can cause damage to the marine plant life in direct or indirect ways. Direct ways include propeller and boat hull which can chop off plant shoots in the shallow water bodies and indirect ways include turbidity and wave damage which may limit the light available for plants and limit where plants can grow. [4]

 There are many solutions coming up to prevent and minimise the negative effects of water sports and other recreational activities. New technology is being developed in various parts of the world to reduce noise pollution. Efforts are being made to replace aged watercraft that require high chemical maintenance for sustainable ones. No-wake zones are being designed to minimise boat wake, where no-wake zones will be used to limit shoreline erosion. No-wake zones are also being used to prevent the plant communities of marine ecosystem. 

 It is important to address the downside of a problem before it becomes an irrevocable damage. Marine life is as essential as land ecosystems. It is only a matter of how we learn to co-exist with each other where we can take leisurely and economical advantage of water sports without disturbing marine environment. 

SOURCES:

[1] https://www.scitecheuropa.eu/how-water-sports-are-hurting-marine-life/97377/

[2] https://eponline.com/Articles/2017/03/27/The-Environmental-Impacts-of-Boating.aspx?Page=1#

[3] https://ucanr.edu/sites/coast/files/59476.pdf

[4] http://www.trpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010-WI-Dept-of-Natural-Resources_UW-Boats-effects-on-ecosystems.pdf

PHOTO COURTESY: https://borgata.ca/types-of-water-sports/popular-types-of-water-sports/5-water-sports-are-popular-in-the-world/