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Factoid/2001/12/06

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Ship Ballast Water a Huge Problem

"More than 100 billion tons of ballast water are transported annually by shipping activities. These ships take up water, complete with local plants and organisms, in one port and can transport this water thousands of miles away. Some countries have outlawed the discharge of ballast water precisely for this reason, because non-native organisms can wreak havoc with foreign ecosystems when they are transplanted into new environments. Much of the reason is because there are no natural checks and balances for the new fish or plants, which gives them a competitive advantage over native species." (Excerpt from Yahoo Environmental News at http://sports.yahoo.com/m/environmental/news/getf/20011129/getfresearchersseekanswertob.html)

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