Who doesn’t love a nice, chill vacation by the seaside? The clean, blue water is so relaxing. But what if I told you that the “clean blue water” that you see isn’t the full picture? What if I told you that some of the world’s top tourist locations are actually the coasts of some of the dirtiest seas in the world? Here are the 7 dirtiest seas in the world!
Red Sea
The Red Sea is one of the warmest seas in the world. That’s great for tourists who love to swim in the sea, but it’s also the cause of tremendous amounts of water evaporation. So, with so much water being regularly evaporated from the sea, the concentrations of toxins and pollutants in the water keeps on growing. The amount of edible fish in the sea has dropped 70%, but it seems like all the fish are being replaced by tourists who are attracted to the comfortably warm waters.
Mediterranean Sea
You honestly wouldn’t suspect that the Mediterranean Sea is so dirty looking at all the pictures from the coastal resorts in Italy, Croatia, and Turkey. And yet, it definitely belongs on this list of top 10 dirtiest seas in the world. According to the latest report from the EU, the Mediterranean Sea is polluted by 650 tonnes of solid waste every year, and an additional 230 tonnes of liquid waste. This amount of waste being disposed into the sea is unsustainable, and each year the problem with the sea’s pollution is likely only going to get worse.
Gulf of Mexico
Although I’ve been listing the seas in no particular order, the Gulf of Mexico is by far the dirtiest in the world. Most of the pollution in the sea is chemical. All the rivers of Cuba, Mexico, and (most importantly) the United States bring in their water into the Gulf of Mexico. And all of the pollution that’s in those rivers makes it into the sea as well. And then, as if all of this wasn’t enough, no sea in the world suffers from oil spills as much as the Gulf of Mexico does. And so — the Gulf of Mexico is the dirtiest sea in the world.
Baltic Sea
Here’s the thing – over 500 tonnes of chemical, nuclear, and other kinds of bombs are lost in the depths of the Baltic Sea. As time goes on, the shells of these weapons tend to erode and rust, and this results in the leaks of many toxic chemicals. That’s why the Baltic Sea is one of the dirtiest seas in the world.
South China Sea
The South China Sea is the dirtiest sea in the Southern Hemisphere and is the 5th dirtiest sea in the world. At this point, this sea is so dirty that humankind’s ability to “restore” it and save it have all but gone. This is, of course, the result of oil leaks and the many, many ships that traverse the waters of the South China Sea.
Laccadive Sea
The sea located on India’s western coast suffers from all the pollution caused by the nearby mega-cities. There are many ports located on the coast, and because of this, the amount of carbon, oil, and metal pollution in the waters of the Laccadive Sea is absolutely insane.
Sea of Japan (East Sea)
The East Sea is victim to the insane amounts of trading ships that travel across it. Because of all the gasoline used (and expelled) by these ships, the level of exhaust pollution in the Sea of Japan is 10 times more than the accepted norm.
