GEOGRAPHY SCHOOL BASED ASSESSMENT

What are the factors that negatively affect marine life in the Marine Park area from the Freeport coastline to the Dump Up Beach in Montego Bay, St. James?

Submitted by: Christina Cameron Registration #: School: Mount Alvernia High School Territory: Jamaica Year: 2011

TABLE OF CONTENT

Aim of Study.3 Location of Study...3-6 Method of Data Collection7 Presentation of Data.8-16 Statement of Conclusion17-18 Bibliography19

AIM OF STUDY

The aim of this study is to identify and explain the causes of pollution and effects on marine life.

LOCATION OF STUDY

METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION

Data was collected from field observation, books and also research. On October 4, 2010 at approximately 3:44 p.m., the researcher took photographs of pollution observed along the Dump Up Beach area. Additionally, on October 9, 2010, the researcher noted coastal pollution in a section of the Freeport coastline and also along the Howard Cooke Boulevard. Furthermore, on October 11, 2010 at 4:23 p.m., the entire study area from Freeport coastline along to the Dump Up Beach, was studied and records were made in an observation sheet.

PRESENTATION OF DATA

The coast of the city of Montego Bay, St. James namely Freeport to Dump Up Beach strip, is mainly used for commercial, tourism and recreational activities as a result of the presence of cruise ship docks, mangrove forests, coral reefs, beaches, seagrass meadows and a wide array of tropical reef fishes, turtles, lobsters, sponges and their habitats. However, over the years, although locals have benefitted from the lucrative industry, the marine life has been adversely affected. Therefore, this area was chosen primarily to identify the different ways in which the marine life is destroyed and determine methods of protecting the diverse environment, thereby preserving the parishs natural resources to yield wealth. Data will be presented by using photographs, bar chart and a table.

Sea

Beach

Pile of marl Water settled in truck tire tracks

Plate 1

In Plate 1, the photograph depicts construction along the coast on the Gloucester Avenue. As seen, the pile of marl has made its way into the sea by surface run off, due to heavy rainfall. According to Vohn Rahil in the New Caribbean Geography, sediments for example marl, can be detrimental to the fish in this area, as suspended sediments in high concentrations irritate the gills of fish, and will later result in death. Furthermore, it was observed that this silt made the water cloudy or muddy. This will affect the penetration of light into the water, which affects fish feeding and schooling practices especially since this area is apart of the secondary management zone as reported by the Montego Bay Marine Park.

North Gully Catchment

Debris Plastic bottles and bags Beach

Plate 2

In relation to Figure 4 on page 14, this photograph displays that plastic bottles are the most common garbage item found in the study area. As advocated by the Montego Bay Marine Park, plastic bottles rarely sink or biodegrades. This is devastating to marine life such as fishes and corals because in comparison to sediments, it blocks sunlight which is needed for fish feeding, schooling practices and also coral growth. Additionally, the accumulated debris seen on the sand will also pose a threat to marine life when it makes its short way to the sea by surface run off. This is due

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to the fact that it will settle then bury and suffocate fish eggs which are located in the fish replenishment zone of the Montego Bay Marine Park Fish Sanctuary. Moreover, since turtles inhabit this area and the plastic bags present in Plate 2 will eventually enter the sea, and will be mistaken for food by the animals thus causing them to choke or suffocate and die.

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Varying Boats water colours

Beach Garbage

Plate 3

In Plate 3, the photograph exhibits more coastal pollution along the Alice Eldemire Drive. It can be seen that plastic bottles and bags are also on the beach. Furthermore, the boats observed in Plate 3 will negatively affect marine life due to oil leakages and chemicals from the exhaust of the boat engines with the different colours of the water in the photograph (brown and blue) as evidence. This poor quality of water will poison marine life especially fish and coral polyp because oil reduces the oxygen content in the sea which is vital for their survival. Additionally, these pollutants will endanger the fishes in this area as oil blocks their gills thus preventing them from breathing. Lastly, the boats in Plate 3 will harm coral reefs in this region, as the dropping of their anchors can break or crush them.

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Figure 4

Figure 4 illustrates the different types and total amount of garbage items seen at the study area of the coastline of Freeport to Dump Up Beach. The majority of fifty percent of garbage items observed were plastic bottles. In addition, plastic bags which allocates for twenty-five percent of garbage items were found on the sand, but primarily in the sea of Dump Up Beach.

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Moreover, waste styrofoam products from local restaurants accounted for twenty percent of the garbage items and was also found on the shore throughout the study area. Lastly, the remaining six percent consisted of debris and domestics waste such as cans, glass materials and sanitary chemicals.

Figure 5

During the three day period of data collection, the negative practices recorded were classified in four categories: improper waste disposal, careless recreation, construction along coast and oil and gas leakage. This bar graph displays the frequency of each of the aforementioned habits by the citizens of Montego Bay. Improper garbage disposal is the most regular method noticed that affects marine life for fifty percent of the time used to collect data. Conjointly, the second most common method that perturbs the eco-system in the study area is careless recreation which accounts for thirty percent of the period. Furthermore, the two least habitual practices that impinge the lives of sea creatures are construction along coast and oil and chemical leakage which were only viewed for ten percent each of the days allotted for data collection.

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STATEMENT OF CONCLUSION

Based on the analysis of the data collected, the researcher has drawn to several findings.

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According to Figure 5 on page 16, improper waste disposal is the dominating negative practice that critically affects marine life in the study area. This is displayed in Plates 2 and 3 on pages 10 and 12 respectively, which clearly shows garbage which were littered or dumped on beaches by the citizens of Montego Bay. Furthermore, since plastic bottles are the most popular type of garbage item found on the coastline from Freeport to Dump Up Beach as related to Figure 4 on page 14, it understandable that the hindrance of fish feeding, schooling practices and coral growth is the major effect of the negative practices. In order to curb this consequence, educating the locals of ways in which to recycle plastic bottles is highly recommended. Moreover, the second major negative practice that affects marine organisms is careless recreation as seen in Figure 5. This is as a result of the field being mainly used for recreational activities as indicated by the beaches in Figures 2 and 3. Thus, it is said that the destruction of coral reefs is the second chief aftermath of the negative practices. Furthermore, the administering of stricter laws and regulations relating to boat or ship anchorage and oil leakages must also be taken into consideration. In addition, with reference to Figure 5 on page 16, construction along coast and oil and chemical leakage are the least unfavorable habit executed by locals. Consequently, the most unpopular garbage item is other which includes both

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debris and chemicals with regards to Figure 4. Therefore, it can be concluded that the irritating and block of the fishs gills are the least common impact of negative practices in the study area. In essence, the encouragement of carefully monitoring oil leakages of boat owners can also alleviate this repercussion.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books Rahil, V., New Caribbean geography with map reading and C.X.C. questions, Caribbean Educational Publishers, Trinidad and Tobago, 2005. Rowe, V., CXC Lecture Series Geography, with practice questions and answers, Jamaica Observer Limited, Jamaica, 2002. Websites

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http://library.thinkquest.org/ October 1, 2010.

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