Chapter 15

Which of the following are marine examples of biological invaders, or species that began to populate nonnative areas?

- Asian clam in San Francisco Bay, - Comb jellies in the Black Sea, - Green shore crab along the East Coast of the United States

What did researchers find when examining Prince William Sound three years after the petroleum was released in the Exxon Valdez tanker spill? (Select all that apply.)

- Photochemical and microbial degradation of the oil was proceeding rather slowly because of the cold climate. - The areas most intensively cleaned to remove oil were recovering more slowly than areas where the oil was allowed to naturally degrade.

What were the sources of the oil spills that occurred as a result of the Gulf War?

- Some oil was deliberately released. - Some oil spilled from a refinery that was damaged in the battle. - Bombing of some sites led to oil being released.

Fishing the food is the fishing practice of first removing the largest fish, the apex predators, and then when those are gone, targeting the next largest fish, and so on.

1 - down 2 - web

The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico would shrink if less fertilizers containing and would be used in the Mississippi River Basin.

1 - nitrogen 2 - phosphorus

Which of the following are true regarding marine wetlands?

1.) Marine wetlands are important spawning areas for marine fish 2.) Marine wetlands are important for the life cycle of many commercially valuable species such as crabs, shrimps, oysters.

Current technologies are capable of recovering approximately ______ of an oil spill.

12%

The dumping of plastic debris in the oceans was prohibited by the United States in ______.

1987

The average number of large tanker spills per decade was ______ per year in the 1970s and ______ per year in the 2000s.

24; 3

The Deepwater Horizon spill released an estimated ______ barrels of oil.

4.9 million

Why would a decrease in fertilizers cause the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico to shrink?

A decrease in fertilizers reduces algal blooms and the quantity of bacteria that consumes the dead algae, resulting in higher water oxygen levels.

is the growing or farming of animals and plants in a water environment, but the term is specifically used for the growing or farming of marine plants and animals.

Aquaculture; mariculture

Two biological invaders that have wreaked havoc on the San Francisco Bay ecosystem include the ______.

Asian clam and the green shore crab

water on ships (water that is pumped in and released in order to preserve the ship's stability as it unloads and loads cargo) may rapidly transport populations of small floating organisms across natural oceanic barriers.

Ballast

What is the most common type of waste found on beaches worldwide?

Cigarette butts

Which of the following two toxicants have been banned because of their negative impact on the environment?

DDT and PCBs

The ______ spill was the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

Deepwater Horizon

What is the most common type of solid waste dumped at sea?

Dredge material

The image shows an area dubbed the ______ that has recently attracted lots of attention because it highlights human impacts that affect the distant ocean (i.e., not just near shore environments).

Eastern Pacific garbage patch

is a type of ocean pollution that is frequently caused by nutrient runoff from agriculture and from disposal of livestock and human waste, leading to the artificial enrichment of waters with a previous low nutrient level.

Eutrophication

True or false: In most locations, incidental bycatch is kept and sold for a profit.

False

True or false: Oil spills from tankers are the largest source of oil in the ocean.

False

True or false: The Gulf of Mexico contains the only dead zone that we know of at this time.

False

In 1972, the ______ Act provided mandates to work toward making all U.S. waters "fishable and swimmable."

Federal Clean Water

Match the term to its correct definition.

Flotsam - Floating objects accidentally lost at sea Jetsam - Floating objects deliberately discarded at sea

The ______ oil spill is the world's greatest spill to date.

Gulf War

is the removal of fish or other marine organisms that were not intended targets of fishing.

Incidental Bycatch

What does the 1987 U.S. law, the Marine Plastic Pollution and Control Act, prohibit?

It prohibits the dumping of plastic debris everywhere in the ocean.

______ are the single greatest source of oil in the marine environment.

Natural seeps

Which of the following are sources of oil spills in the ocean?

Offshore oil well drilling Oil tanker accidents

______ is most likely the first type of major human impact on the oceans.

Overfishing

______ is the removal of fish from a population faster than the population can reproduce.

Overfishing

A highly refined fish protein called is produced from a bottom fish called pollock.

Surimi

What are indirect consequences of overfishing?

The capture of bycatch Removing the major food source of another animal Removing the major predator to another organism

Aquaculture

The growing or farming of animals and plants in a water environment

Mariculture

The growing or farming of marine plants and animals

How did a bright green tropical seaweed, Caulerpa taxifolia, get into the Mediterranean Sea?

The seaweed escaped during a routine tank cleaning at Monaco's aquarium.

Why does aquaculture result in increasing pressure on wild fisheries?

The wild-caught fish are fed to the farm-raised fish.

What happens to pieces of plastic as they continue to break down in the ocean?

They continue to impact marine organisms.

Match the region to the best scenario regarding how bycatch is handled there. United States Southeast Asia

United States - One pound of local shrimp harvest also yields over 10 pounds of bycatch that is nearly all discarded. Southeast Asia - Large local fisheries collect high percentages of bycatch that is frequently sold at fresh fish markets and consumed.

For many years, Boston Harbor received sewage effluent in a variety of stages and became seriously polluted. The 1972 Clean Water Act mandated a(n) ______.

Upgrade of sewage treatment to the secondary treatment level

Biomagnify

When concentrations of a toxic substance increase as one organism consumes another (as it moves up the food chain)

Bioaccumulate

When levels of toxicants, such as methyl mercury, build up in an organism's body

Surimi is ______.

a highly refined fish protein made from pollock frequently flavored to form artificial crab

The ecosystem-based fishery management approach differs from the maximum sustainable yield approach because it ______.

acknowledges uncertainties in the system acknowledges diverse societal uses of fish stocks, including fishing, recreation, and tourism

The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is caused by ______.

animal manure sewage nitrogen-based fertilizers

The Atlantic ______ is an example of a fishery that was overexploited and subsequently collapsed. The fishery demise is associated with a dramatic rise in international fleet pressure in the northwest Atlantic.

cod

The United States extended its Exclusive Economic Zone to 200 miles in 1976 to protect the fisheries in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. They still have not recovered.

cod

A ship's ballast water (water that is pumped in and released in order to preserve the ship's stability as it unloads and loads cargo) is problematic for the marine ecosystem because it ______.

contains populations of small floating organisms that can be rapidly transported to nonnative regions

A short-term effect of an oil spill includes wildlife mortality, whereas a long-term impact includes ______.

damage that results from the cleanup efforts, including people and equipment that alter the environment while they attempt to clean the site

Human impact on the oceans is ______.

far reaching, covering every region of the world's oceans

Indirect impacts of fishing include all of the following except ______.

fishery collapse from overharvesting

One indirect impact of fishing that has been observed is a shift in fishing focus from large apex predators to species at lower trophic levels. This phenomenon is called ______.

fishing down the food web

Most of the plastic trash coming from the commercial fishing industry is ______.

fishing gear

Fish and other aquatic animals swimming in hypoxic waters can ______.

have trouble breathing because the water is so low in oxygen

In 1972, the U.S. Congress passed the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act to regulate the ______.

intentional disposal of waste at sea

Eutrophication

is a type of ocean pollution that is frequently caused by nutrient runoff from agriculture and from disposal of livestock and human waste, leading to the artificial enrichment of waters with a previous low nutrient level.

In the contiguous United States, between the mid-1950s and the mid-1980s, approximately 20,000 acres of coastal wetlands were ______

lost each year

When marine mammals become entangled in plastic fishing nets, it is frequently fatal because ______.

marine mammals must come to the surface for air

The three leading sources of plastic trash in the oceans are ______.

naval, merchant, and fishing vessels

The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is primarily caused by too much ______.

nitrogen

The most common type of pollutant on U.S. beaches is ______.

plastic

The most common type of pollutant on U.S. beaches is debris.

plastic

Sea turtles frequently mistake ______ for their jellyfish prey and ingest them, causing the turtles to get sick or die.

plastic bags

Marine is "the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment which results in deleterious effects" (World Health Organization).

pollution

Farming of Atlantic and Pacific has surged past the catch of wild specimens, and today more than 60% purchased at stores are farm raised. Problems still exist for wild populations, however, because the farmed fish are raised near the migratory paths of the wild populations, where they have been known to be infected with diseases.

salmon

Plastic bottles, plastic bags, and cans are types of ______ waste that pollute beaches and coastal areas.

solid

Oil that occur in the ocean are associated with both the drilling practices at offshore wells and the bulk transportation of oil to different countries.

spills

Hypoxic waters can ______ slow-moving, bottom-dwelling organisms such as crabs, snails, clams, and worms.

suffocate

The ecosystem-based fishery management approach is ______.

widely accepted by the international community but is weakly enacted

As a result of the 1972 Clean Water Act, sewage must be treated at the ______ level before being released.

secondary

Some toxicants become absorbed onto suspended matter in the water column and ______.

settle out to become concentrated in the sediments

In the 1800s and early 1900s, one of the most common pollutants in U.S. waters was ______.

sewage effluent

As plastic debris in the ocean breaks down into smaller pieces over time, it ______.

- may release toxic chemicals - may concentrate toxic chemicals at higher levels than in the surrounding water

Marine pollution includes ______. (Mark all that apply.)

- noise excess - nutrients - heavy metals

"Biological homogenization" is a concern of marine biologists because ______.

- some biological invaders can outcompete natives, causing the natives to become endangered or extinct - some transported species have shown that they can become rapidly established in new habitats

A ______-term effect of an oil spill includes the killing of seabirds, whereas a ______-term effect includes settling of oil on the sea floor, where it moves down into the sediments.

short; long

Utilizing the maximum sustainable yield for fish harvests ______.

should prevent overexploitation and overfishing of fish populations

"Fishing down the food web" describes the fishing practice of ______.

taking the largest fish first, and when those are gone, then the next largest, and so on

In 2000, the Gulf of Mexico dead zone shrank to its smallest recorded size because of ______.

the drought and the minimal freshwater runoff into the gulf

Overfishing is ______.

the removal of fish from a population at a faster rate than the population can reproduce

A ______ is a substance such as heavy metals, chemical compounds, and excessive concentrations of nutrients that degrades the environment and is harmful to organisms.

toxicant

Hydrocarbons, bacteria, chlorine, and pesticides are all examples of that degrade water quality.

toxicants

If the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for the planet's fisheries is estimated to be 120 million metric tons, and if during 2000-2010 we harvested between 89 and 94 million metric tons, this tells us ______.

we have nearly reached the MSY for global fisheries

Dead zones have been reported ______.

worldwide

Which of the following are impacts of plastics on marine animals?

- Animals may become entangled in plastics. - Animals may ingest plastics, mistaking them for prey.

Which of the following has contributed to the loss of marine wetlands in the United States?

- The conversion of wetlands into croplands - The logging of wetland trees for timber, wood chips, and fuel - The removal of wetlands in order to create waterfront properties and port facilities

Which of the following are examples of ways humans have played a role in introducing species to new geographic areas in time spans that far exceed a natural rate of species expansion?

- The steel hulls of today's modern ships fill and discharge ballast water before and after transoceanic crossings. - European sailors coming to settle the North American continent had barnacles and snails attached to their boats.

In the Philippines, Bangladesh, and coastal Africa, 50 to 80% of the mangrove wetlands are gone primarily because of ______.

- clearing and filling to provide land for crops and shrimp ponds - logging for timber, wood chips, and fuel

are floating objects accidentally lost at sea, and are floating items deliberately discarded at sea. (Use only one word per blank.)

1 - Flotsam 2 - Jetsam

Select the drawbacks of aquaculture listed below.

1.) Release of antibiotics into the marine environment 2.) Increased nutrient loading in near-shore habitats 3.) Increased pressures on wild fisheries because wild-caught fish are fed to farmed fish

Which of the following factors have been linked to the expansion and contraction of the Gulf of Mexico dead zone?

1.) The amount of rainfall and subsequent water runoff into the gulf 2.) The amount of agricultural fertilizer used in the Mississippi River drainage basin

Why did the United States extend its Exclusive Economic Zone from 12 to 200 nautical miles out from the country's coastal baseline in 1976?

1.) To protect its fishing rights over a greater area and put the region under national control 2.) In an effort to curb fishing pressure on Atlantic cod

Between the mid-1950s and the mid-1980s, about ______ acres of coastal wetlands were lost each year, and between 1998 and 2004, the loss of coastal wetlands ______.

20,000; accelerated to 59,000 acres lost each year

Which of the following statements regarding oil spill prevention is most correct?

Adequate technology still does not exist to clean up large oil spills, particularly under difficult weather and sea conditions

Which of the following fish are commonly farmed in China, Southeast Asia, and Japan?

Catfish Tilapia Carp

Choose all the toxicants that are capable of degrading water quality.

Heavy metals Hydrocarbons Pesticides Bacteria

The ______ prohibits all ocean dumping in any ocean waters under U.S. jurisdiction by any U.S. vessel or any vessel sailing from a U.S. port, except as allowed by permits awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act

______ are developed to conserve and protect some aspect of the marine environment, such as a historical artifact, threatened and endangered species, or breeding grounds for marine organisms, and there are a wide range of legal restrictions on human activity here. Areas where fishing and other consumptive-type activities are completely prohibited are referred to as ______.

Marine protected areas; marine reserves

Why are marine wetlands referred to as "nursery" areas?

Marine wetland habitats provide food and shelter for many marine organisms during their larval and juvenile life stages.

Which of the following are examples of solid waste dumped at sea? (Mark all that apply.)

Medical waste Dredge material Obsolete military hardware

With the world's demand for seafood on the rise but declines in harvests of wild fish stocks occurring, the market has become the fastest-growing area of global food production.

aquaculture

Many toxicants do not remain in the water column because they ______.

are adsorbed onto small particles and settle out into the sediment

Three after after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, researchers found that ______ were recovering more slowly than other areas.

areas that had been extensively cleaned

In 1998, a global pact (Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants) required most countries in western and central Europe, North America, and the former Soviet Union to ______ compounds such as DDT and PCBs.

ban production of

Methyl mercury is a toxicant known to ______ (build up within an organism) as well as ______ (become concentrated at increasing levels as it moves up the food chain).

bioaccumulate; biomagnify

Increased nitrogen levels in the Gulf of Mexico lead to ______. They die and are fed on by ______, which use up much of the available oxygen in the water column during the consumption process.

blooms of algae; bacteria

The population of ______ dropped 80% between 1970 and 1993. Being the world's most valuable fish, there is incentive to stop the collapse of this fishery.

bluefin tuna

People agree that fisheries should be managed based on ecosystem health, ______.

but fishing pressure still needs to decrease by up to 50%

If there are increases in the size of fleets targeting a specific species and improvements in the fishing technology, then the catch per unit effort is expected to ______.

decrease over time, as the fishery heads toward collapse

The average number of large tanker spills per decade ______ from the 1970s to 2000s.

decreased significantly

The ______ fishery management approach views the entire ecosystem as relevant to managing a fishery and allows for the diverse societal uses of fish stocks, including fishing, recreation, tourism, and overall ecosystem health.

ecosystem-based

Toxicants introduced to the ocean include _____.

heavy metals excessive concentrations of nutrients chemical compounds

Human activities are introducing more and more alien species into new areas; the biological that may occur has the potential to radically change existing ecosystems.

homogenization

The world map indicates that ______.

human impacts have now reached every region of the world's oceans

A low-oxygen, or ______, area forms in the northern Gulf of Mexico as a result of high levels of nitrogen introduction.

hypoxic

A(n) area in the ocean has low oxygen levels; it has also been called a dead zone because the area can no longer support most marine life.

hypoxic

If a fisherman is attempting to catch tuna but accidentally catches dolphins in the net, the dolphins are considered ______.

incidental bycatch

Marine protected areas ______, and marine reserves ______.

include a wide range of legal restrictions on human activity; are focused on prohibiting fishing and other consumptive activities

When increased levels of organic matter enter the ocean, there is a(n) ______ in marine algae. Then, when the algae die and are consumed by bacteria, the oxygen levels ______.

increase; drop

In regard to the Atlantic cod fishery, the two major factors that led to its collapse were ______.

increasing fishing technology and increases in the size of the fishing fleets

Fish farming is the fastest-growing area of global food production, as a result of ______.

increasing global demand for seafood and a declining wild fish harvest

The Eastern Pacific garbage patch concentrates floating bits of plastic and other debris because ______.

ocean gyres, or circulating currents, tend to trap it in floating patches