Harbour Pollution

1. Harbour Pollution An Inquiry into: How pollution affects all animal life in the sea… By: Victoria Thilesen PY6

2. Introduction… • Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that can cause instability, harm and discomfort to the ecosystem. • What is in the harbour that is dangerous for aquatic life? • There are many heavy metals and organic (man made) compounds in the ocean like PCB, TBT and PAH. Some of these may be deadly for fish! • (Form)

3. What is it like to be around a polluted area? • It really depends on how much pollution there is in a specific place. • A community with a lot of visible pollution is not a very attractive place to live. However it is often that which is invisible to the naked eye that is of most concern to all living organisms. • (Form)

4. What is the situation in the harbour now? • The current situation in the Sandefjord harbour is actually not that bad compared to what it was before. You can eat fish cought in the outer part of the harbour as long as you remove the liver because the liver concentrates all the heavy chemicals that the fish ingests. You can also eat crabs and muscles that are cought in the inner part of the harbour! • (Form)

5. What is it like for animals to live in a polluted area? • Pollution destroys the natural habitat leading to fro example death of seaweed: This again results in lowering oxygen concentrations especially in closed bays where there is little exchange of seawater. Marine/animal life will either die or move elsewhere. Another consequence of low oxygen levels can be local invasion by dangerous algi which again consume oxygen and further reduce oxygen levels leaving essentially a “sterile “ enviroment. • (Form)

6. How do we know that there is pollution in Sandefjord? There are many different reports from the Sandefjord municipality and the state. There are also reports from different ideological organizations that are engaged in cleaning up the harbour. The newest report that I have is: “Forrurensnings situasjonen i Sandefjordsfjorden.” (Function)

7. How do people try to clean up the harbour? Sandefjord has been trying to clean up the harbour by using dredgers (floating mechanical diggers) that can dig up and remove chemical saturated sand from the sea-bed. When this happens a lot of chemicals that are lying on top of the seabed are spread into the surrounding waters. Before a company starts to clean up the harbour they want to be very sure that the pollution that is in the harbour is caused by them. This is because it costs a lot of money to clean up the harbour. Participating companies have removed a 50cm layer of the polluted seabed replacing it with 50cm of clean soil and crushed stones in order to make the seabed nicer. (Function)

8. What is water pollution caused by? • Pollution can be caused by: Agricultural effluents, industrial pollution, boat traffic, air planes, people littering. • Some kinds of pollution can even occur though natural processes such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. • All humans use water daily in our homes and industries. The United States use more water per person than any other country averaging 150 gallons per day. The water we use in Norway is mainly surface water from open reservoirs – most other countries use underground (groundwater) sources. • Used contaminated water will usually be returned to the sea. • (Function)

9. How pollution affects animal life in the sea… Fish are sensitive to different pollutants. The higher up the food-chain the species feeds, the more concentrated pollutants become (small fish feed on plankton, large fish feed in turn on these small fish). It may be advisable not to eat fish cought in local waters. Fish liver concentrates heavy metals. If you are going to sell fish that is cought in the harbour you will need to take out the liver before you can sell it! Crabs and muscles that are cought in the inner part of the harbour are safe to eat. (Function)

10. How does pollution connect to plants and animals? • Pollution in the sea may cause disruptions in the sea’s food chain, which begins with plankton and algi and is topped by the largest fish and mammals such as dolphins, seals and whales and sea birds. • If a fish species dies, the bird that eats it will wither die or will need to find something else to eat!

12. What can kill fish? • Many fishermen don’t bother to drag in lost fishing tackle. They usually just cut the fish line leaving fish nets and trawl- tackle behind into which fish get entangled and usually die! These nets can lie on the sea floor for many years. • Strawberry Fields… There has been a incident in Vestfold where massive fish death was traced back to a farmer who had cleaned a container he had used to spray pesticide onto his strawberry field. The spill water from cleaning had run out into a stream and than to the sea killing all local fish. The fisheries authority brought this case to the attention of the police who didn’t have the time to investigate.

13. What companies are working to clean up the harbour? …an interviewwith Ole Jacob Hansen • Jotun and Biologge has done a big job. We have also had a big project at Kilen financed by the state. • When it comes to the polluted seabed we don’t know who is going to clean it up .

14. How is the level of pollution changing? • How is the level of pollution changing? • Interview with: Ole Jacob Hansen • Pollution levels today are very different from that recorded earlier. Measurements started around 1950 and worsened continually to around 1970/1980. Then people stated getting worried about pollution levels and legislation was put into place to reduce pollution levels and place the cost of clean up on the polluters themselves. • Today there is pollution in the seabed but it is a long way down. It will become better over time.

15. The landfill storage capacity is limited at Langøya. Does the municipality have plans to establish its own landfill on land? Interview with Ole Jacob Hansen… No the municipality has not got any plans to have a landfill on land. Previously the municipality thought of having a landfill at Fokserød. There is a large stone quarry that would haae been suitable as a landfill . Sandefjord’smunicipality got permission to put dredged polluted seabed there but local environmentalists managed to lobby politicians stopping the project. That is something that can be considered again. Fokserød

16. Can we swim? Bløtdyr Fisk • The water quality in the inner Sandefjord harbour has been concidered not good enough for swimming by the Sandefjord municipality. However further out in the fjord there are many good bathing spots enjoyed the local population. • What animals live in the sea… Svamp Ribbemaneter Nesledyr Flatormer Slimormer Leddormer Pølseormer Leddyr

17. Who’s responsibility is it too clean up the harbour? • The people who are polluting the harbour are the ones who need to clean up. This Sandefjords municipality agrees on. • (Responsibility)

18. How do we know that there is water pollution? • Many different reports, magazines and web-pages have been written and published so that more people get to know about this HUGE problem. • (Reflection)

19. Are there currently any restrictions on eating fish and shellfish? • Are there currently any restrictions on eating fish and shellfish?  • Yes there are. Some factories say that you should not eat fish lever that is caught in the inner part of the fjord! That is what kostholdsrådet says. You can eat the fish filey but not the liver which has all the heavy metals in it! There is one more rule for those who fish. They are not allowed to sell the fish to other fish-mongers like Brødrene Bergren. But if they take out the liver and other content then they can deliver it to Brødrene Bergren. I could tell you something from the report that is going to come, it is soon done. When it comes to shellfish including mussels and crab people can eat, even if it is caught in Sandefjords inner harbour! That’s because there are very low content s of heavy metals in both mussels and crab-meat. • (Reflection)

20. Think for yourself… Is it worth using all this money to clean up the harbour? Boy golden-pig.com image.made-in-china.com

21. Link to Sandefjord Harbour video on Internett… • http://www.sb.no/nyheter/avslorer-fjordbunnen-1.1021563

22. Now…Let’s see, How much you remember… www.smileyland.com

23. Q) What was sprayed on to strawberries that later ended up in the sea and all marine life died? • Milk • Fertilizer • Poisonous water • Apple Juice

24. Sorry That Is Wrong!

25. I Knew You Would Figure It Out… Correct!!! You are a Star!!! www.smileyland.com

26. What companies have cleaned up a lot of the harbour? • Jotun and Biologge, • Rens Sandefjordsfjorden AS

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29. Is there more pollution in 2011 than in 1950? • Yes, • No

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32. Has Sandefjords municipality started to build a landfill on land? • Yes, • No, • It might be considered again.

33. Sorry That Is Wrong!

34. I Knew You Would Figure It Out… Correct!!! You are a Star!!!

35. Are there currently any restrictions on eating fish and shellfish? • Yes, • No

36. Sorry That Is Wrong!

37. I Knew You Would Figure It Out… Correct!!! You are a Star!!!

38. Is it advisable to swim in the Sandefjord harbour? • Yes, • No

39. Sorry That Is Wrong!

40. I Knew You Would Figure It Out… Correct!!! You are a Star!!!

41. Hope you found this Interesting!