The focus of this book is on the study of the various problems associated with
marine pollution. Marine ecology is concerned with environmental factors and
problems of organic adjustments quite different from those in fresh water. There
are many factors, acting both individually and in combination, which govern the
effect of oil on marine life. These will include the type and quantity of oil,
the duration and quantity of pollution experienced by the organism, the state of
the oil, e.g., fresh, weathered etc., the season, with respect to the annual
cycles of the organism, and the habitat and the natural stresses to which the
organism is subjected.