Light pollution in the sea

Light pollution in the seaChemical pollutants, coastal zone destruction, habitat loss, nutrient discharges, hypoxic zones, algal blooms and catastrophic overfishing have all heavily impacted life in our oceans (Bowen and Depledge, 2006).Major efforts are being made worldwide to manage and minimise these threats.However, one particular pollutant, light, is still permitted to flood into our seas almost unchecked.It is alarming that as the intentional and unintentional illumination of the coastal zone and nearshore environment increases unabated, we still have little idea of the extent to which intertidal and sublittoral ecosystems are being affected.There is also growing concern regarding the introduction of light into the deep sea (Widder et al., 2005).