Sea Otters are critical to ocean life, but their population is decreasing.
Oceans today are home to thousands of creatures. With so many different species, could you imagine that one of them would be a part of the weasel family? The Sea Otter is that animal and it is critical to oceanic life. Unfortunately, their population has been declining for many years. Sea Otters can live on land, but their main habitat is in the water.
Sea Otters are the biggest animal in the weasel family, but the second smallest mammal in the ocean. They do not have the blubber that most ocean mammals have to keep them warm in the cold ocean waters, but they do have a really dense fur. “In fact, at 850,000 to one million hairs per square inch, they have the thickest
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Due to Sea Otters enjoying some of the same food that humans enjoy, they are often found in heavy fishing areas. Fisherman sometimes purposely trap and drown the Sea Otters, because they are considered competition and causing the fisherman to lose profits from their catch.
Oils spills are a huge threat to Sea Otters as well. When the Sea Otter’s get stuck in the spills, their fur gets matted which prevents it from insulating their bodies. Their fur is their only protection from the cold water causing them to die from Hypothermia. The poisonous oil can cause the Sea Otter more health issues, including liver, kidney, lung, and eye damage.
California, or southern, Sea Otters are listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act and are fully protected under California state law. The northern Sea Otters in Alaska are listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, Act II. The Sea Otters in the United States are also protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. Sea Otters were put under protections with the signing of the International Fur Seal Treaty of 1911, and became registered under the Marine Mammal Protection and Endangered Species Acts in the 1970s. Worldwide, numbers have gradually recovered but still stand far below original population. “Today, there are estimated to be just over 106,000 worldwide, with just over 3,000 in California”. (Ecological Society of America. Climate change, predators, and trickle-down effects on ecosystems. ScienceDaily, 11 August
Orca whales are the largest members of the dolphin family. Orcas are very curious creatures, they like to sky hop, which is when they poke their heads out of the water and look around, and they can also dive to as much as a hundred feet. These social animals live in pods and stay with them for their whole lives. They are so family oriented that they can may sleep together in a tight circle and have synchronized breathing. Orcas can grow up to thirty-two feet and can weigh nine tons. They typically eat five percent of their body weight and are amazing hunters. The lifespan of an orca in their natural habitat is about fifty years. This lifestyle for them is wonderful because they can swim as far as they want to and are free. Orcas should not be held captive because the capture process is dangerous, it is not good for their health, and their trainers are at risk. Free Willy. Dir Simon Wincer. 1993.Video. Warner Bros Home Video
The efforts taking place through different conservation organizations and the State of Florida are making a mixed impact on the survival of Manatees and Sea Turtles. The decline in manatee population has decreased, but due to low reproduction rates, more needs to be done to avoid extinction. The sea turtle outlook is more species specific. Some species of turtle are seeing stabilization in population, while others are not. The State of Florida has a large array of custom license tags that support the conservation efforts taking place within the State. The proceeds go to benefit the local marine life in Florida. With financial resources, state and local cooperation, and through constant research and observation, we are able to learn more about both of these gentle animals. With human awareness of those living in Florida, these two animals will survive
There has been a steep decline in sea otter populations due to water pollution and exploitation of furs. This has adversely affected marine ecology. It is therefore suggested that sea otters should be included in the endangered species list to protect them from further exploitation. This study focuses on the community ecology of sea otters and their impact on marine ecology. The need for their inclusion in the Endangered Species list and the implications of such an intervention are also evaluated.
Orcinus orca is the scientific name for the massive marine mammal. Orcas are not rare, but have declining numbers in some areas (Martin.) Orcas are found from the Artic Ocean to the Antartic Ocean. (Britannica) They belong to the Delphinidae, or dolphin family, which is the largest of their species. Female orcas grow to be at the most 15 feet, and weigh up to 4 tons, but the males can grow as large as 20-30 feet, and weight up to 8 tons. (Martin) The color of the orca is white in some spots, black on the majority of the body, and gray just behind the dorsal fin. It is white on the chin, belly and the eye. The white patch above the eye is usually mistaken for the eye, and may confuse their prey, but acts as a camouflage for the eye. The name “killer whale” makes people tend to believe that this is a viscious man-eating mammal, yet it is one of the most shrewd, docile and playful species of the marine mammals. The orca is sexually mature at 10-15 years of age, much like humans, which is 12-13 years of age. They tend to mate year round, and is able to have a calf every two years. It is interesting to know that lactation of the mother lasts 12 or more months (Wynne.) The life expectancy of orcas is 45-50 years of age.
...legal fishing, caught in fishing nets, collisions with boats and or propellers, and marine pollution. The subsequent captivity of dolphins in research and aquarium facilities contributes to their deaths.
The characteristics of the grizzly bear as a top predator also make it highly vulnerable to threats. Although it is an omnivore, because it relies heavily on salmon to make it through the winter, it is vulnerable to anything that impacts on salmon runs. It needs wide-ranging habitat and is slow to reproduce. As such, grizzly bears are considered not just a key species but also an ‘umbrella species’ because the protection of their habitats will result in an ‘umbrella of protection’ for a wide range of other species. The protected areas that have been set aside in the Great Bear Rainforest are not enough to sustain healthy populations of grizzly bear so it requires additional habitat set aside from logging. Trophy hunting of grizzly bears also continues to place their population at
People generally think that the largest animals ever to live on earth were the dinosaurs, but even those giants were not as huge as the blue whalethat is still alive today. Named for its blue-gray color, this huge cetacean may grow to be roughly 30.5 m (100 ft) long and weigh more that 108,000 kg (120 tons). Its close relatives include the smaller fin, humpback, sei, Bryde's, and minke whales.
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.
However, they began to go extinct when North America merged lands with the Southern counterparts, allowing placentals to move into South America and largely outcompete them (Moskowitz ,2010). Placentals now occupy one of the widest range of environments from marine to terrestrial. In order to thrive in the environments they are subjected to, eutherians have evolved various structural adaptations. They vary in size from shrews to whales. Being housed largely in tropical Asia, shrews (Eulipotyphla) are terrestrially adapted to dig burrows to hide from predators and forage for food with their reduced body size. In contrast, whales (cetacea) are the largest creatures dominating deep oceans. With its enlarged body size, its stomach is able to contain one tonne of krill for feeding (WWF, 2016). Contrastingly, the marsupials like kangaroos and koalas, as well as monotremes including the duck billed platypus and spiny anteater, all remained and possesses similar body sizes, completely lacking diversity compared to the
Fishing gear that is the most harmful is illegally placed in areas such as near the rivers, shores, and cays, commonly in the southern region in Belize. This region is where most of the small fishery villages reside. Entanglements in fishing nets are a source of many deaths to free-swimming manatees. These nets are sometimes engulfed by manatees which cause their digestive systems to fail. The nets also get caught onto their appendages, which sometimes tear causing a severe infection. There have been several cases reporting amputation of manatee appendages due to this reason. Calves usually drown when they are entangled, especially if t...
They often overheat the food. Sometimes they venture into the water just to cool off. When a bear climbs on an ice floe, it shakes itself off because it is trying to prevent ice from forming on its fur (22-23). Because of climate change, hunting of polar bears is now becoming an endangered species which is affecting the food chain.... ...
Wolves were once the most widely distributed mammal on the planet. With their exceptional ability to adapt, wolves occupied almost every habitat except tropical jungles. But with the arrival of humans, wolves numbers diminished. Systematic eradication programs were aimed at top predators; this, along with over-hunting of prey populations and habitat loss due to population encroachment, wolves were eliminated from most of the contiguous United States by the 1940s. In 1973 wolves were finally put under the protection by the Endangered Species Act, and just recently wolf populations are increasing due to wolf recovery and reintroduction projects.
Over a century ago, humans fought animals for dominance of the landscape and we regrettably won, now they’re in need of our protection. The Government and Organizations have come to the rescue of wildlife species all across the U.S. Their main goal is to protect wildlife species from over harvesting and also their loss of habitat due to industrial and residential development. The beauty and curiosity of wildlife captivates all of us for different reasons. For certain species, they are the link to our existence Animals are not being hunted into extinction because the government is protecting certain wildlife areas and are controlling the animal populations within those certain areas. While increasing a wildlife species population and removing from the endangered species list, a predator such as the gray wolf, is sure to be seen as a success to some and a threat to others.
“ Effects of Oil Spills on Marine and Coastal Wildlife” Holly K. Ober. WEB. 19 May 2014
Wanderlust, founded America. Faith, keeps Americans hopeful. Adversity, promises change. The two poems, “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold and “Sea Fever” by John Masefield, perfectly illustrate the power of wanderlust, the power of suffering, and the power of faith, in the most complex battle against the human mind; the poems reveal literal and metaphorical vision of the sea.