My Cause For Otter Pollution

I believe that underwater noise has an effect on marine animals such as whales. Using information from the passages I will prove my point. Their numbers are declining rapidly and I believe that underwater noise has some involvement in the rapid decrease in their population numbers. The information given within the two passages will help prove my point.

In 1911, the United States and other countries signed the Treaty of the Preservation andProtection of Fur Seals. About a thousand to two thousand Sea Otters remain and are being protected by the Endangered Species Act. Not only is biodiversity being lost in its ecosystem because of the fur trade, it is also getting lost because of oil spillage. Oil spillage is also a huge contribution on why Sea Otters, or any marine animal, are endangered species. The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 killed hundreds and thousands of Sea Otters and oil is still lingering in the area to this day, which is causing pollution. When there's a oil or gas spillage, it gets into the Sea Otter's fur, which makes it very hard for them to groom themselves. They rely on their fur so much that when it soaks up all theoil, their fur can't breath thus causing them to have hypothermia. Breathing in the fumes of theoil can cause them to have kidney and lung damage. Pollution on land can contaminate the ocean, causing their habitat to get destroyed and polluted as well. According to Defenders of Wildlife, Sea Otters are often contaminated with toxic pollutants disease

The conditions that the captured killer whales are forced to live in are not acceptable replacements for the wildlife habitats that they have been ripped from. All the enclosures that the orcas are kept in do not provide an adequate amount of space that the animal requires. The size of an orca in relation to the size of the tanks they are forced to live in is comparable to the

The lecture explained how the population of sea otters declined, due to the environmental pollution. First, the oil rigs along the Alaskan coat serve as an indication to pollution. This directly refutes the reading passage which states that predation was most likely the reason, since the bodies of the dead sea otters didn't wash on the shores.Secondly, the passage mention that the water samples that were extracted from the sea revealed the presence of chemicals. Again, this contradicts with the lecture which claims that the whales which the otters consume were not available anymore. Which had forced the sea otters to change their diet to include small sea animals. Thirdly, the lecture mentions that the decrease in sea otters population was

The area of research that I have selected is the effects of overfishing in the Sea Otter ecosystem off the coast of California. The effects caused by the fishing pressure on the ecosystem will have different outcomes, depending on the strength and the types of relationships of the organisms present. (4) Red Abalone populations have declined drastically, to the point of the abalone fishery collapse. Several factors have led up to the collapse including Withering Syndrome, where the organism loses the ability to attach itself to rocks, making it more susceptible to predation, or the organism can eventually wither and starve to death. Sea Urchins and Red Abalone are a part of the same ecosystem, and are competitors of each other.(5) Both organisms graze on macroalgae and are a primary food source for Sea Otters. Sea Otters occurred from the North Pacific Rim down to Baja California, Mexico, but now only occur in small isolated patches (9) It is understood that Sea Otter presence can characterize community structure, where they can control and determine the size of Sea Urchin and Red Abalone populations. In the absence of Sea Otters, “Urchin Barrens” are created from the overgrazing of macroalgae by Sea Urchin. In these areas the ecosystem have changed dramatically, due to the overfishing, or in this case the over hunting, of Sea Otters causing a trophic cascade.(7)In some areas, Sea Otters have been reintroduced, in other areas they were never removed, and in others they

In a documentary film directed by Bill Wisenski, “Threatened: The Controversial Struggle of the Southern Sea Otter,” it reveals some of the reasons why the California sea otter population is declining. In addition, it shows the controversy surrounding the “No Otter Zone”. Furthermore, it ensures why the California sea otter population is important to the marine ecosystem. In the film, sea otter populations are endangered because of the significant impact by some human factors. In the 1700’s and 1800’s, fur traders hunted sea otter population to near extinction. Besides this, threatened events such as shipping and drilling oil across the Pacific and along coastal areas; the California sea otters is vulnerable to oil contamination. As a result,

Sexually mature females can mate year around and are often either pregnant or caring for young throughout their lifetime, and this creates ongoing energy demands that can be energetically exhausting (Chinn et al. 2016). Sea otter mating behavior is aggressive and can further inflict physiological and traumatic stress to females, thereby reducing their foraging efficiency. Other factors such as infections, disease, bio-toxin ingestion and anthropogenic disturbance can also decrease fitness among adult females and increase their vulnerability during reproduction (Chinn et al. 2016). As nearshore inhabitants, southern sea otters often live in close proximity to areas of high human population density in California. These nearshore waterways can be busy with recreational and commercial boating activity that can disturb sea otter populations. Increased disturbance may cause increased stress to the species. Sea otters are of great interest to people who wish to view them, and this is sometimes done up-close by boat or paddle craft. If this activity changes sea otter behavior in any way, it not only violates the Marine Mammal Protection Act, it can also have a negative impact on the species, especially adult females with pups. Additionally, a familiar list of human impacts, such as climate change, overharvest of marine resources, municipal runoff, and habitat degradation likely reduce fitness of marine mammals directly and indirectly. Sea otters can be indicators of the overall health of the nearshore ecosystem (Kreuder et al. 2003). The slow growth rate of the southern sea otter population may be an expression of nearshore ecosystem degradation in California resulting from the fur trade and explosion of human population in

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are marine mammals capable of spending their entire lives in water. Being carnivorous in nature, they feed on sea urchins, crabs, fishes, mussels and clams. They are referred to as keystone species due to their profound impact on marine ecology. The interaction between sea otters, sea urchins and kelp forests has been studied as a model of the impact of predator-prey interaction on community ecology. Sea otters are keystone predators, whose presence has a far-reaching influence on the marine food web by affecting the population of sea urchins in particular, and kelp forests & other marine organisms in general. There has been a steep decline in sea otter populations due to water pollution and exploitation for

In this study, the daytime behaviors of territorial male sea otters were observed using photo-identification and focal animal sampling. All age groups were used in this experiment, as well as both sexes.The six bouts behaviors that were observed were resting, grooming, foraging, interacting with other otters, surface swimming, and patrolling. The time spent doing each behavior and interactions with females were also observed. The behaviors of Alaskan Sea Otters have been examined before in previous studies, but many focused only on foraging. Earlier studies showed Sea otters weren’t very territorial, which later proved to be incorrect. The main purpose of this article was to examine the many different behaviors of territorial male sea otters

The sea otter plays a huge part in marine ecosystems along the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. They can be found along the coasts of California, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Sea otters inhabit rocky shorelines and sandy seafloors, usually where the water is shallow so they’re able to catch their food, and also where marine communities are diverse. Sea Otter have some interactions with the species around them, especially with the

Moreover, the professor indicates that the ecosystems may also caused other mammal animals decline. But the other mammal, like whales, didn't decrease. As a result, the ecosystem should not cause the sea cow need to face the food shortage. However, the author

Agricultural runoff, and boat yards can release chemicals fixated in the shellfish and prey otters ingest. Fuel and oil released in the ocean can trap in the otter’s fur and they cannot manage their body heat causing hypothermia and internal organ problems. Some ways to protect and raise awareness for sea otters is throwing trash away that may be mistaken for food in the ocean. Try to recycle and avoid littering in the ocean. Plant more in your garden and less runoff will be produced. Try to avoid oil spills by getting your oil changed when driving. Donate money to help sea otters such such the California sea otter fund. Sea otters were hunted for their warm fur coats that protect them from the cold and were on the brink of extinction for some time. Sea otters mostly live in kelp forests and kelp forests are starting to disappear by sea urchins. If the kelp forests continue to disappear then the sea otter population will decrease as the sea urchin population will increase. Sea otters can be helped but it takes more than one person

This species is listed as a priority species given the protection by the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, French Guiana, Trinidad, Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela; “ Lontra Longicaudis is listed as near threated by the IUCN” (16). . Hunting of these otters has taken a toll, making this species to a near extinction (Yoxon and Yoxon 2014.) Full protection was given to this species with an intention to decrease in the hunting rate and increasing the rate of the otters. Although the full protection of the otters has been put into place there are conflicts with the fisherman’s, deforestation, mining and water pollution are still a major contributing to

The mission of the project is to study and attempt to save the endangered sea otters.

Human activities have decreased the population of the Sea Otters, and negatively impacted the trophic levels of the ecological pyramid they belong in. Primarily after the industrial revolution, humans have constantly overexploited the environment, resulting in the gradual loss of biodiversity. Among these struggling organisms are the sea otters, an essential support for trophic levels including the sea urchins, kelp forests, and others. Without otters, dependent marine animals in different trophic levels will be heavily influenced and suffer as well. If precautions are not taken to ensure proper conservation and sustainability, there will be consequences beyond just losing an adorable animal.