The sea has always been used as somewhat of a garbage pail. It is so vast and is often thought of as a world by itself, and has been swallowing humanity’s wastes for a millennia. All kinds of things are thrown into the water with very little thought as to the impact that the trash, chemical, or material might have. We hide things in the water. “Out of sight...out of mind.” There is a price to be paid for putting stuff where it doesn’t belong. Even something as seemingly benign as throwing an old bike in a lake may create problems. One expert points out that when metal is mixed with water that “the metals probably act as a physical irritant to a potentially wide assortment of external tissues of the fish” (Heath 184). We put more in our waters than old bikes. “Pollution of ground water can result from many activities, including leaching from municipal and chemical landfills and abandoned dump sites, accidental spills of chemicals or waste materials, improper underground injection of liquid wastes, and placement of septic tank systems...” (Canter and Knox 1). Many things cause the oceans to be polluted, but oil spills, the dumping of human waste, and toxic wastes contribute to the problem most.