The text on this site is presented as an archival version of the script of "Ocean Planet," a 1995 Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition. The content reflects the state of knowledge at the time of the exhibition, and has not been updated.

Habitats...in harm's way

This "buoy" will help you navigate through the causes, effects, and responses to marine habitat degradation from the loss of wetlands, tourism and recreation, deforestation, and alteration of fresh water flow.

Each of the four sides of this buoy marks the course through oceans in peril.

LOST WETLANDS

Coastal wetlands are disappearing
Coastal wetlands worldwide are being lost due to drainage, dredging and filling.
photo © S. C. Delaney/courtesy of Environmental Protection Agency

BAD SPORTS AND TOURIST TRAPS

Sea-floor and shore sights suffer from overexposure
Droves of tourists and water-sports fans descend on and into tropical and coastal waters. All too often they leave damage in their wake.
photo © Dan Ham/Tony Stone Images

LOST FORESTS

Deforestation affects marine life
Clearing inland forests harms coastal ecosystems in the tropics and temperate areas
photos © Dale Glantz & © Jeff Foott

DAMS AND DIVERSIONS

Coastal ecosystems suffer when river water is diverted
Dams and diversions of fresh water alter fish habitat, rob downstream areas of nutrients, and raise salinity in coastal waters.
photo © Gary Braasch/Woodfin Camp & Associates

More Information

Center for Coastal Ecosystem Health - NOAA's new center in Charleston, South Carolina whose main goal is to contribute to the development of improved management strategies for achieving coastal ecological, cultural, and economic sustainability.
Dredging is big, dangerous job a story by Kathleen Sullivan-Jones, Grade 3
Earth is a Marine Habitat A brochure about the NMFS Habitat Protection Program.

Ocean Planet Exhibition Floorplan

gene carl feldman (gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (301) 286-9428
Judith Gradwohl, Smithsonian Institution (Curator/Ocean Planet)