The Mediterranean Sea

1. The Mediterranean Sea By Shaun Fenech Form 3P St. Augustine’s College

2. Geology Of Mediterranean Sea • The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Straight of Gibraltar on the west and to the Sea of Marmara and the Black sea, by the Dardanelles and the Bosporus respectively, on the east. • The Sea of Marmara is often considered a part of the Mediterranean Sea, whereas the Black Sea is generally not. • The 163 km long man-made Suez Canal in the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. (Mediterranean Sea, 2008).

3. (Composite satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea, Wikipedia encyclopedia) Mediterranean Sea

4. MEDITERRANEAN SEA UNDER THREAT

5. Urbanisation and tourism The 150 million people living along the Mediterranean coast produce 3.8 billion cubic metres of wastewater each year. A further 2.5 million cubic metres are produced by the 220 million tourists visiting the Mediterranean region every year. The above figures are a rapidly increasing trend. 80% of the urban sewage produced is discharged untreated. Added to that are agricultural runoffs containing pesticides, nitrates and phosphates which contaminate the Mediterranean Sea. (Marine environment: the Mediterranean sea and its coasts, 2007).

7. Oil Pollution Every year 600,000 tons of crude oil are deliberately released into the sea from shipping activities. The oil shipping industry is a major pollutant threat to the Mediterranean Sea due to the vast traffic of oil tankers shipments. One example of a catastrophic event is the Erika oil tanker crisis in France in 1999. It is estimated that when the Erika broke up it spilled about half of her load (12,000 to 15,000 tonnes) of heavy crude oil into heavy seas some 40 nautical miles off southern Brittany. (Commission of European Communities, 2000)

8. The ecological catastrophe caused by Erika’s oil spill is documented as the worst ever in terms of seabird mortality. At the time of the incident many northern birds winter off the French Biscay Coast. In large pools of oil the birds became coated in thick black oil and unable to fly; they quickly perish from poisoning or drowning. About 90% of the dead birds were Guillemots, Gannets and Puffins. (Mustoe S, The Erika Oil Spill.) • Source http://www.itopf.com/erika.html

9. Around 1.5 million tonnes of fish are caught in the Mediterranean each year. Destructive and often illegal fishing methods, including bottom trawlers, dynamite, long lines, and drift nets have depleted fish stocks. Use of drift nets are also responsible for the accidental deaths and for incidental catches of flagship species such as cetaceans and marine turtles. Depleted fish stocks are also reflected in the undersized catch. 83% of all blue-fin tuna and swordfish caught in the Mediterranean sea are undersized.(Marine environment: the Mediterranean sea and its coasts, 2007). • Over Fishing

10. The Mediterranean hosts several endangered marine species. The Mediterranean Monk seal (Monachus monachus), of which about 350 – 400 now survive in the world. In the summer of 1997, two thirds of the largest surviving single population of Mediterranean monk seals (the one in Cabo Blanco) were wiped out within the space of two months, extremely compromising the species‘ viable population.(The Monk seal, 2008) Damage inflicted upon fishermen's nets and rare attacks on off-shore fish farms in Turkey and Greece are known to have pushed local people towards hunting the Mediterranean monk seal, but mostly out of revenge rather than population control.

11. The loggerhead turtle The 100 – million year old loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), nests on Mediterranean beaches. Loggerhead Sea Turtles were once intensively hunted for their meat and eggs, along with their fat which was used in cosmetics and medication. The Loggerhead Sea Turtles were also killed for their shells, which are used to make items such as combs. As a result both subspecies are now internationally protected. (The Logger Head turtle, 2008)

12. The Pilot Whale has traditionally been killed by whalers by the process of "driving" - where many fishermen and boats surround a school of whales and slowly force them to shore, killing them. This practice was common in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, declining only in the 1990s. In the 1980s around 2,500 individuals were killed each year in this manner. (Wikipedia, 2008) The Pilot whale, the Fin whale and the Sperm whale Pilot Whale

13. Fin Whale Like all other large whales, the Fin Whale and the Sperm whales were heavily hunted during the twentieth century and is an endangered species. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has issued a moratorium on commercial hunting of this whale, although Iceland and Japan have announced intentions to resume hunting, the latter country stating it will kill a quota of 50 whales for the 2008 season. Collisions with ships and noise from human activity are also significant threats to the recovery of the species. Sperm Whale

14. The Common Dolphin, Striped Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin and the Risso’s Dolphin Common dolphin Dolphins face a mixture of threats due to human influence. Populations have been hunted off the coast for use as food and shark bait. In most other areas the dolphins have not been hunted directly. Several thousand individuals have been caught in industrial trawler nets throughout their range. Common dolphins were abundant in the western Mediterranean Sea until the 1960s but occurrences there have tailed off rapidly. The reasons are not well understood but are believed to be due to extensive human activity in the area. Risso’s Dolphin

15. Bottlenose dolphin Striped Dolphin

16. Blue Fin Tuna One of the most endangered fish. Blue fin tuna populations have declined alarmingly over the past few decades - not just Atlantic blue fin tuna, but also Pacific blue fin tuna and southern blue fin tuna. (Bluefin tuna in crisis, 2008)

17. Conclusion • The Mediterranean Sea interacts humans and nature together. • Humans with all their actions, throughout history, especially from the Industrial Revolution onwards, have been the cause of most major threats to the Mediterranean Sea. • Now every living organism that habitats this wonderful sea has to face the consequences of humans’ irresponsible ways of life. • We must listen to the voice of mother nature that has long been calling on our attention to stop threatening our planet; stop damaging our environment. • If we do not stop and change this aggressive destructive behavior, what future are we preserving to our children and future generations?

18. References Mediterranean Sea, 2008. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_sea Marine environment: the Mediterranean Sea and its coasts, 2007. WWF for a living planet http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/euro ewhat_we_do/mediterranean/about/marine/index.cfm Commission of European Communities, Brussels. 2000 http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport/library/com142-en.pdf Mustoe, S., Australia. The Erika Oil Spill. http://www.orcaweb.org.uk/downloads/Erikaoilspill.doc Marine environment: the Mediterranean sea and its coasts, 2007 http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/europe/what_we_do/mediterranean/about/marine/index.cfm The Monk seal, 2008 The Logger Head turtle, 2008 The Pilot whale, the Fin whale and the Sperm whale The Common Dolphin, Striped Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin and the Risso’s Dolphin http://www.wikipedia.org/

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