The Effect of Tsunamis on Marine Life Research Paper

The Effect of Tsunamis on Marine Life - Research Paper Example The most common cause of tsunami is the undersea earthquake. Such earthquakes may be too small to trigger a tsunami, but they may help in landslides, which may trigger Tsunami. On 26th December, 2005, early morning, northwest of Sumatra saw a huge tsunami. The earthquake generated a tsunami that was among the deadliest disasters in modern history, killing well over 200,000 people. The most surprising fact about this disaster is that the tsunami was not generated in Pacific Ocean, but in Indian Ocean. The earthquake originated in the Indian Ocean just north of Simeulue Island, off the western coast of northern Sumatra, Indonasia. The resulting tsunami devastated the shores of Indonasia, Srilanka, South India, Thailand and other countries with waves up to 30m . The following picture shows the blow of tsunami to one of the sandy beaches in Srilanka. Caption: A devastated Sandy beach in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami in 2006. The tsunami of 2005 was just one example of this devastating natu ral disaster. There have been a number of incidences of tsunami across the world, that have produced enormous destructions in the affected nations. (Bryant pp. 3-7; Commonwealth Veterinary Association p. 1) General Impact of Tsunami on Marinelife The coastal ecosystem gets damaged due to tsunami. The mangroves, estuarine, sea grasses, mudflats and coral reefs are usually among the most affected ones. Most of these physical structures are damaged by the huge force, which the waves produce as shown in the following picture. Caption: Damages to the Physical structures in coastal region by the Tsunami in Chennai Physical removal of flora and fauna and increased sediment load kill sediment sensitive corals and sea grasses by smothering. The extent of this damage considerably varies on the basis of local topography and hydrology of the surrounding environment. Some of the general impacts of tsunami can be as follows: Saltwater intrusion is a chemical change that occurs in the Pacific Ocea n, which is now also being happening in the Indian Ocean. All these occur due to heavy run off from the sewage, even the decomposition formed by the flora as well as the fauna of that place. These also include un-recovered bodies as well. Exotic species which are used for aquaculture escape badly. The structure of the ecosystem biologically gets disrupted. Since the structure of the ecosystem alters due to tsunami, the whole ecosystem gets affected Since coral reefs are considered as the natural defense of the ecosystem and it is generally seen that the ecosystems of these areas are largely intact even after the hit by tsunamis. For example, the Surin Island, chain off Thailand’s west coast, may have survived better than areas where the coast has been modified by urban development, aquaculture and to the new formed ecosystem during the tsunami of 2005. Mangroves are generally considered to be very significant natural barricade as well as a source of high quality profitable ti mber. Tsunamis produce significant adverse effects on mangroves. For example, in the Tsunami of 2005 that hit the coasts of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, etc., areas with highly dense mangroves areas suffered fewer human casualties and relatively less harm to physical properties compared to those areas that did not covered with mangroves. Tsunamis