| Each year the North Sea receives an estimated 25,000 to 40,000 tons of heavy metals, 75,000 to 100,000 metric tons of oil and thousands of metric tons of organic micropollutants. The water in the sea changes every 18 months, but three-fourths of the sediment stays put. The degree of the problem is reflected in such warning signs as: |
| Changes in the plankton population, with the explosive bloom of toxic algae spurred into excessive growth by increasing nitrate and phosphate levels, which can cause massive fish kills. |
| The infection that killed an estimated 18,000, or 60 percent, of the North Sea's common seals in 1988. The virus' lethal effect was increased by the seals' reduced resistance to infection because of pollution. |
| The death of tens of thousands of seabirds annually, their feathers clogged with oil. |
| The dramatic increase of diseased fish and the depletion of some of the stocks of the 150 types that swim in the North Sea. Fishermen complain of ulcerated skin from handling the fish. |
| If the size and symptoms of the problem are recognized, the solution is proving to be more elusive. Not one of the eight North Sea countries - Britain, France, Belgium, Holland, West Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway - appears likely to achieve the common goal, set in 1987, of reducing North Sea pollution by 50 percent. Although nutrients from farm fertilizers are known to be a major part of the problem, the European Economic Community's 12 members have been unable to agree for 15 months precisely what to do about them. |