Editing North Sea (section)

===Biodiversity and conservation===
Due to the heavy human populations and high level of industrialization along its shores, the wildlife of the North Sea has suffered from pollution, overhunting, and overfishing. [[Flamingo]]s and [[pelican]]s were once found along the southern shores of the North Sea, but became extinct over the second millennium.<ref>{{cite web
 |title        = Extinct / extirpated species
 |work         = Dr.&nbsp;Ransom A. Myers – Research group website
 |publisher    = Future of Marine Animal Populations / Census of Marine Life
 |date         = 27 October 2006
 |url          = http://www.fmap.ca/ramweb/media/biodiversity_loss/downloads/Examples_regional_extinctions.doc
 |url-status   = dead
 |access-date  = 24 November 2008
 |format       = doc
 |archive-url  = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081217143715/http://www.fmap.ca/ramweb/media/biodiversity_loss/downloads/Examples_regional_extinctions.doc
 |archive-date = 17 December 2008
 }}</ref> Walruses frequented the Orkney Islands through the mid-16th&nbsp;century, as both Sable Island and Orkney Islands lay within their normal range.<ref>
{{cite journal
 |last = Ray  |first = C.E.
 |year = 1960
 |title = ''Trichecodon huxlei'' (Mammalia: Odobenidae) in the Pleaistocene of southeastern United States
 |journal= Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
 |volume = 122   |pages = 129–142
}}
</ref> [[Gray whale|Grey whale]]s also resided in the North Sea but were driven to extinction in the Atlantic in the 17th&nbsp;century<ref>{{cite web
 |website      = The Extinction Website
 |series       = Species Info
 |title        = Atlantic Grey Whale
 |date         = 19 January 2008
 |url          = http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct/speciesinfo/atlanticgreywhale.htm
 |access-date  = 3 December 2008
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090104224507/http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct/speciesinfo/atlanticgreywhale.htm
 |archive-date = 4 January 2009
 }}</ref> Other species have dramatically declined in population, though they are still found. [[North Atlantic right whale]]s, [[sturgeon]], [[shad]], [[Batoidea|rays]], [[Skate (fish)|skate]]s, [[salmon]], and other species were common in the North Sea until the 20th&nbsp;century, when numbers declined due to [[overfishing]].<ref>{{cite news
 |last = Brown
 |first = Paul
 |date = 21 March 2002
|title = North Sea in crisis as skate dies out: Ban placed on large areas to stave off risk of species being destroyed
 |newspaper = [[The Guardian]]
 |location = London, UK
 |publisher = Guardian Unlimited, Guardian News and Media Limited
 |url = https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,4378387,00.html
 |access-date = 3 December 2008
 |archive-date = 17 April 2023
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230417083626/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2002/mar/21/fish.food
 |url-status = live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news
 |last1        = Williot
 |first1       = Patrick
 |last2        = Rochard
 |first2       = Éric
 |series       = Ecosystems and territories
 |title        = Sturgeon: Restoring an endangered species
 |publisher    = Cemagref
 |url          = http://www.cemagref.fr/english/seven/News/07/25ans/ETsturgeon.pdf
 |access-date  = 3 December 2008
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081217143716/http://www.cemagref.fr/english/seven/News/07/25ans/ETsturgeon.pdf
 |archive-date = 17 December 2008
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>

Other factors like the introduction of [[non-indigenous species]], [[industrial pollution|industrial]] and [[agricultural pollution]], [[trawling]] and [[dredging]], human-induced [[eutrophication]], construction on coastal breeding and feeding grounds, sand and gravel extraction, [[offshore construction]], and heavy shipping traffic have also contributed to the decline.<ref name="OSPAR"/> For example, a resident [[orca]] pod was lost in the 1960s, presumably due to the peak in [[Polychlorinated biphenyl|PCB]] pollution in this time period.<ref>{{cite news
 |last=Carrington
 |first=Damian
 |date=14 January 2016
 |title=UK's last resident killer whales 'doomed to extinction'
 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]
 |place=London, UK
 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/14/uks-last-resident-killer-whales-doomed-to-extinction
 |access-date=17 February 2019
 |archive-date=20 February 2019
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220003210/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/14/uks-last-resident-killer-whales-doomed-to-extinction
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>

The OSPAR commission manages the [[OSPAR]] convention to counteract the harmful effects of human activity on wildlife in the North Sea, preserve [[endangered species]], and provide environmental protection.<ref>
{{cite web
 |title=OSPAR Convention
 |publisher=European Union
 |year=2000
 |url=http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l28061.htm
 |access-date=30 November 2008 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108222855/http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l28061.htm
 |archive-date=8 January 2009
}}
</ref> All North Sea border states are signatories of the [[MARPOL 73/78]] Accords, which preserve the marine environment by preventing pollution from ships.<ref>{{cite journal
 | title = Directive 2000/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27&nbsp;November 2000 on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues
 | date = 28 December 2000
 | journal = Official Journal of the European Communities
 | id = 28 December 2000 L 332/81
 | url = http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2000:332:0081:0089:EN:PDF
 | access-date = 12 January 2009
 | archive-date = 10 May 2011
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110510104253/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2000:332:0081:0089:EN:PDF
 | url-status = live
 }} "Member States have ratified Marpol 73/78".</ref> Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands also have a trilateral agreement for the protection of the [[Wadden Sea]], or [[mudflat]]s, which run along the coasts of the three countries on the southern edge of the North Sea.<ref>
{{cite report
 |chapter      = Wadden Sea region case study
 |date         = 1 June 2006
 |title        = Scottish Natural Heritage: A review of relevant experience in sustainable tourism in the coastal and marine environment, case studies, level 1, Wadden Sea region
 |publisher    = Stevens & Associates
 |chapter-url          = http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/strategy/CMNP/Case%20Study/Wadden%20Sea%20Region%20Final.pdf
 |access-date   = 1 December 2008 |url-status = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081217143713/http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/strategy/CMNP/Case%20Study/Wadden%20Sea%20Region%20Final.pdf
 |archive-date  = 17 December 2008
}}
</ref>