What is a Sea Lion?
Sea Lions are marine mammals that live in the ocean. They have four flippers that help them to be able to swim around in water and are covered in thick layers of blubber that help keep them warm in colder temperatures. The diet of sea lions mainly consists of eating fish, although they do occasionally eat some types of squid and occasionally clams. The average weight of a sea lion is around 660 pounds and can measure up to 8 feet long for males, while female sea lions on the other hand can weigh up to 220 pounds and only grow to be 6 feet long. Sea lions can swim at speeds up to 25 miles per hour and usually only move around at speeds somewhere around 11 miles per hour. Seals spend most of their time in the ocean in search of food. Sea lions can typically live a lifespan of 20 – 30 years. Sea lions can be found in areas such as the Pacific Ocean coastlines of western North America and also near the Galapagos Islands.
Why save Sea Lions?
As of 1990, sea lions were listed under the endangered species list. Sea lions are top predators in marine environments which makes it that much easier for them to be affected
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by changes in the environment more specifically, changes that were caused by humans. Current threats to sea lions are tourism if not properly managed, small scale fisheries, aphrodisiacs for Asian markets, chemical contamination and trash, the use of sea lions as bait for fishing, habitat loss and coastal urbanization as well as many other things. For example, around the world about 30,000 sea lions die each year due to ingestion of trash or getting caught/stuck in trash because of humans. Another example would be the fishermen using sea lions as bait. They do this by killing them and them using their meat as bait, yet another form of human involvement which further decreases the population of sea lions on a large scale. Chemicals being dumped into the ocean also play a large role. The sea will either die from exposure to the chemicals or will develop sicknesses that will lead to them having a shorter lifespan. Ways of Saving/Protecting Sea lions In California, there was a recent case of 1000 plus sea lion pups washing up ashore. Upon further investigation of the matter, it was brought to light that temperature increases in the water along the coast had a large part to do with it. Currently efforts are being made to help the pups, by raising money to help feed and keep sheltered the pups. Acts such as the previously mentioned are good way to protect the endangered sea lions. Other forms of helping to save the sea lion species include convincing small scale fishermen to stop killing sea lions and quit demanding that culling be used. This can be done by convincing Peruvian (significant reason for decline of sea lions) fisherman associations to discontinue anything that would defame sea lions. Instead they could be convinced to help promote the conservation of marine animals, namely sea lions. Another way to help conserve the and promote the grow of the sea lion specie would be to promote more acts of keeping the oceans clean and reduce the amount of chemicals that are being put into the oceans.
Organizations such as the Ocean Conservancy have been successfully mobilizing the International Coastal Cleanup movement which is the world’s largest volunteer effort to clean up waterways and the ocean. They have implemented methods such as researching what is mainly trashing up the ocean as in what accounts for the largest percentage of the trash being put in and then using that information to prevent/ decrease the amount of trash being put into waterways. They have done this by coordinating with anything from individuals to businesses to help change practices and or their behaviors that would lead to more trach ending up in the
ocean. Other efforts to help conserve sea lions would be by helping out other organizations that aim to preserve marine life, help protect endangered species, look to reduce and or eliminate trash in the ocean, and organizations whose sole intent and or goal is to help conserve the sea lion specie. Ways to help these organizations would be to volunteer, help fund the organization or put into practice the methods that are being taught in order to help out marine life which will lead to conserving the sea lion species.
Seaworld is a giant marine life theme park. The greatest attraction to these many theme park would be those killer whales. In fact, these killer whales are the face of the park. As gigant as these mammals are, seaworld is keeping them in some pretty tight quarters. Mr. Jett and Mr.Ventre says “Wild killer whales can swim a hundred miles daily as they socialize, forage, communicate, and breed. In stark contrast, with little horizontal or vertical space in their enclosures, captive orcas swim only limited distances, with most spending many hours surface resting.” The animals don't have the freedom they need. Also when taking the whales out of their natural habit the whales tend to be depressed and not as heath in that situation. They need their freedom in the big ocean blue. Bring them into the small living units, breeding whales in captivity all for the entertainment of humans. At young ages the calves are taken away from their mothers on to a new seaworld park. Mothers of the calves have even been seen denying their offspring.
This year they are listed under the endangered species act and has today 78 killer whales left. The factors that could be contributed to such a rapid change in the size of sea otter population is stop hunting sea otter down and killing them and selling them to fur traders.That is the big thing in the otter decline people from 1800 to 1900 hunted and sold them all time for there fur. killer Whales have a taste for sea otters and the sea lion and seals short in supply in the northern pacific. Killer whales are feeding on otters because of the absents of their prey. The lost of sea otters have effect on organism is Alaska’s sea otters decline the affects health of kelp forests and diet of eagles. Sea otters play a private part by keeping the kelp forest a healthy balance. By eating sea urchins-- the biggest threat to kelps forests--sea otters control sea urchins numbers and kept the ecosystem in balance. This ensured that these underwater plants could thrive and reach their maximum height of 250 ft.The sharp drop in sea otter numbers in this island chain of alaska is the predation level. killer whales need 61.54 kcal/male otters and kcal needed is 308000 kcal
The guadalupe fur seals are valued for their fur and the oil that rendered from their blubber. They are brown with a mixture of gray with a hint of silver and yellow on the top of the neck. The males tend to be more of a deep brown and a light gray, and females are dark gray. Male guadalupe fur seals are much bigger in height and size compared to the females. The males weigh approximately 300 pounds and are 6 feet long. Females on the other hand, weigh up to 100 pounds and are only 4 feet long. All Guadalupe fur seals have long, narrow snouts, and they slightly up turn at the end, especially the
Luckily, as the years grew Californians started to find sea otters roaming out in the water again. Slowly but surely the population was growing in these recovering areas, but the southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis), also known as California sea otters, were listed as threatened in 1977 under the Endangered Species Act. (Carswell) There are a number of reasons for why sea otters have come close to extinction.
Every year eight million tons of plastic trash end up in the ocean (National Geographic), and every year little is done to stop the destruction of this resource. As trash continues to pour into what happens to be the most relied on resource, humans continue to stand idle and witness the atrocity. While it has become evident that many are not aware of this issue, or simply do not care, organizations such as “Surfrider” have taken on the tedious task of bringing this travesty to attention of others. Surfrider is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and preserving oceans around the world. As part of their campaign, Surfrider published a strong and effective advertisement in hopes of convincing viewers to halt the destruction of the ocean. This advertisement effectively utilizes various rhetorical devices such as imagery to provoke pathos, an anaphora, and
Seals and sea lions have many anatomical differences and similarities. As mammals, Pinnipeds are warm-blooded, breathe air with lungs, have hair, bear live young, and females nurse their young, providing milk via their mammary glands. Looking at the exterior of the mammals, two first-sight identifiers set these two species apart. They are the flippers and ears. Seals have small, furry, “…thinly webbed flippers, actually, with a claw on each small toe” (National Ocean Service, What’s the difference) that are very weak so they flop on their bellies to move on land. They move like a caterpillar inching forward. When in the water, seals use their rear flippers to steer by moving them back and forth like a fish’s tail. Sea lions, on the other hand, have large fins for which all four are used to stand up and crawl with. They are more adapted for life on land. However when swimming, they use those strong flippers as paddles to propel their whole bodies in a streamline movement. Unlike seals, sea lion’s flippers are hairless and clawless. When it comes to ears, seals have a little hole in the side of their head while sea lions have outer flaps as ears. Another indicator o...
Lions fur coats are a highly prized possession by poachers, and are worth a lot. Over the last 200 years, over 90% of the world’s lion population has either been shot or killed as result of humans. Lions are also a very popular attraction for zoos and many lions live in captivity.
Ocean Pollution is a serious issue in today's global politics. The delicate balance of Earth's ecosystem is put in jeopardy when the ocean is not clean. Problem evolving from ocean pollution directly harm marine life and indirectly affect human health and the Earth's many valuable resources. Ocean Pollution is a Broad term that encpompasses any and all foregin matter that directly or indirectly makes its way into the ocean. This includes everything from the extreme: oil spills, Toxic Waste dumping and industrial dumping-- to the small scael: human activities and basic carelessness. Because the oceans and all other water bodies are invariably, somehow connected, and because they account for 3/4 of the Earth's surface, they are an ideal method of transportation for pollution, allowing the rapid spread of seemingly far away toxins into a river near you! It is increasingly important that we educate ourselves as to what, exactly, ocean pollution is, so that we can identify the causes at their source and take action in small and large ways, and hopefully, prevent this terrible form of pollution from getting any worse than it is today.
Our oceans take a large beating every day by the extremely large amount of pollution humans produce. Our society easily dumps their waste into the oceans to dispose of the excessive amount of garbage, sewage, and chemicals, but this small and simple solution is creating an even bigger problem. The way humans dispose of their wastes is causing the death of our beloved marine life. Not only are we killing off our animals, our food source, and our resources, we are also minimizing our usable water. By having a better understanding of the problem on the severe dumping, it will be easier to find ways to help minimize the pollution that is going into the ocean.
The ocean is an abundant source of life. It is home to thousand of different creatures, provides a great source of food, and provides the earth with about one half of the oxygen needed to sustain life. (National Geographic) Pollution especially plastic, is a catastrophic problem. Ironically plastic, which is a material designed to last forever is generally used for things we tend to throw away. Every year about one hundred to two hundred billion pounds of plastic are manufactured. Only 31% of that plastic is actually recycled. Biomass packaging estimates 10% of that plastic ends up in the ocean annually. About 20% of it coming from ships and other platforms, and the other 80% coming from land derived sources, such as international garbage dumping, winds or tides either way it finds its way to the ocean.(Biomass Packaging Co., et al)
Sea otters are considered an endangered species under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. In some countries they are protected under acts such as the Marine Mammal Species Act of 1972 and the Species at Risk Act in the United States and Canada respectively (Doroff and Burdin, 2015). Since sea otter populations are constantly changing, experts say worldwide sea otter populations range from 100,000 to 150,000 (Doroff and Burdin, 2015). A recent study estimated the sea otter population to be around 122,875 (Larson et al.,
Their habitat is the sea floor where they find meals and the sea surface where they socialize with the other otters.
Today's waters are constantly being treated like sewage dumps or trash cans. We use them as garbage cans every day polluting the water more and more. "Pollution is often by way of rivers, drains and outflow pipes." Causing an outflow of sewage into our ocean waters. This is not only affecting the community but also the marine life and other sea creatures living in the ocean." This pollution includes human sewage and domestic waste water, factory outflows of acids and poisonous metals, engine oil from roadside drains and garages, farm chemicals washed off the land by rain, building-site rubble, nuclear waste from power plants, and oil from wells, refineries, and tankers." Stating that most of today's waste is from factory or factory ran products that shouldn't be polluting the water
What we should do about it is put a lot of trash cans by the ocean. Having all this trash in the ocean really is unnecessary. We could possible make a big net and tie it on a helicopter and pick up the trash like that. People can die by having all this trash in the ocean. I just don’t understand why people don’t care where there trash goes so they put it where ever they want. We can probably not allow any food or drink or bags get on the beach unless its items that people need. It’s just so hard to try to keep it clean because everyone doesn’t care about their trash. If anybody doesn’t pick up their trash, nobody is going to pick up their trash. People think because there’s trash flying around the beach that it’s ok for their trash to fly around also. If someone lets a plastic bag fly and hits a baby in the face what is that person going to do? It’s dangerous that trash is out there just like nothing. We as individuals can also stop it by telling our friends and family. If anyone sees trash by them they should take it out. Just don’t ...
...s to take action on contaminated beaches nearby are to speak out, attend public meetings, and/or volunteer. To reduce the contaminants in the ocean, everyone can plant trees, dispose chemicals and pet waste in the correct designated areas, prevent waste from going into seward and storm drains, prevent the clogs in storm drains, organize neighborhood cleanups, recycle paper, plastic, and glass, and maintain cars from oil leaks. To give a helping hand, there are many volunteer programs for people to clean up waste on the shore lines. They have a website where people are able to help out along the coastlines of California near them; www.cacoastkeeper.org/take-action/volunteer. We have created this problem, we should be able to resolve it. Either we change what we’re doing on land, or face the future extinction of many animals and people due to the cause of one species.