Last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico brought a renewed focus to an often ignored issue: degradation of our oceans. Liquid, solid, and acoustic pollution have devastating effects on marine habitats. The consequences—from entanglement in discarded fishing lines to disorientation from naval sonar—can be deadly.
Pollution poses a threat to marine life in many forms. Plastics such as six-pack rings tangle around the snouts and necks of sea lions, making it hard to breathe or eat. Fishing lines wrap around whales and dolphins, slicing off flukes and fins.
Oil, PCBs, and other chemicals can poison animals and kill plant life vital to some species’ survival. Oil spills destroyed acres of sea-grass beds essential to dugong survival in the Persian Gulf after Operation Desert Storm.
And scientists believe naval sonar has caused mass strandings of dolphins and whales.
The HSUS works on many fronts to make the oceans safer homes for marine life.
News & Events
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August 17, 2011
"Minds in the Water"—a Surfer Fights for Fellow Ocean Creatures
Follow champion surfer Dave Rastovich's fight to protect whales, dolphins, and other marine life in the documentary, "Minds in the Water."
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January 3, 2011
Trouble in Paradise: Coral Reefs at Risk
Commercial collectors remove millions of fish from coral reefs. The HSUS and HSI are targeting a global trade that lays waste to these fragile ecosystems.
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October 5, 2010
The HSUS Asks Government to Prevent Harmful Development in Endangered Whale Habitat
The HSUS asked the National Marine Fisheries Service to deny a permit for construction of a controversial bridge across the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet in Alaska because its construction will disrupt the only habitat for the federally endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale.
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May 25, 2010
Wildlife Advocates File Suit to Protect World’s Most Endangered Whale
Litigation filed today in federal court by The HSUS, Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity and Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society seeks to expand habitat protections for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.
Our Victories
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January 5, 2011
Shark Conservation Act Signed into Law to Curb Cruel Shark Finning
The HSUS, HSI and the Humane Society Legislative Fund applaud President Barack Obama for signing an important bipartisan bill that will increase protection for sharks from the cruel and wasteful practice of shark finning.
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December 21, 2010
Shark Conservation Act Wins Final Congressional Approval
The HSUS, Humane Society International and the Humane Society Legislative Fund commend the U.S. House for giving final congressional approval to legislation that will increase protection for sharks from the cruel and wasteful practice of shark finning.
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November 23, 2010
Federal Appeals Court Blocks Sea Lion Killing at Bonneville Dam
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco halted the National Marine Fisheries Service’s program to kill federally protected sea lions at the Bonneville Dam on the Washington and Oregon border.
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October 6, 2010
Administration Proposes New Habitat Protections for Whales in Response to Advocates’ Lawsuit
The HSUS hailed a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service to revise critical habitat for North Atlantic right whales, an endangered species that clings to survival with fewer than 400 individuals remaining.