Southern Sea Otters Research Paper

Southern sea otter lives in kelp forests (a type of seaweed) along the Pacific coast, mainly off the coast of California. The marine mammals consume on average one-fourth of its weight daily including sea urchins, which are vital to support the kelp forests. By the result of sea otters preying on sea urchins, the consumption of kelp by sea urchins are kept at a constant rate allowing the forest to grow and thrive. This is highly important for biodiversity in the sea that is provided by the kelp forest, which is a key component of the three principles of sustainability. There are three ways that human can do to help prevent the premature extinction of southern sea otters. First, ethical issue that consists of the species being seen as vital

River Otters are a species found on 5 out of 7 continents in the world. They have short legs that allow them to swim, walk, groom, and manipulate their pray effectively. Generally, they are various shades of brown, but they have a darker dorsal, and a lighter ventral. Their head, eyes, ears, nose, and teeth are beneficial for them when hunting prey, and when being hunted. River Otters have unique characteristics, features, and lifestyles that allow them to be not only adorable, but important to many ecosystems.

Throughout history, animals have been genetically modified to contain the best genes. Animals meant to survive through any environmental disaster from earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados and tsunamis. These species were apes, dolphins, pigs, mice and especially otters. All of the other species could not survive the experiments and sadly they all became extinct but the otters had shown tremendous improvements. They were able through live through harsh conditions, be able to adapt on long periods underwater and on land without any food. Their intelligence had improved tremendously, putting it at the same level as humans or even higher than them.

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 for the impact of predator-prey interactions on community ecology. Sea otters are keystone predators, whose presence has a far-reaching influence on the marine food web by affecting the populations of sea urchins, which indirectly affects the populations of kelp

Carrying capacity is the maximum number of organisms that can be sustained by available resources over a given period of time (Di Giuseppe, 2003). It is affected by the availability of biotic and abiotic resources, such as prey and light respectively. The carrying capacity is always changing as the environment constantly changes.

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

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

Both the passage and the lecture discuss the decline of some sea otters’ population in Alaska coast. On the one hand, the passage argues that this decline is due to environmental pollution. On the other hand, the lecture opposes by stating that predation is most likely the reason for the phenomena.

In the listening passage, professor focuses on 1 effect of rapidely declining of sea otters in Alaska coast in North America has more affect. In the reading passage, 2 causes of this event are presented. One of them is pollotion that is made by chemical factories and also attacing predators such as seals, sea lions, and orca. The professor emphasis that attaching prdators has more effection on declining sea lion rather than pollotion. She has some reasons for supporting his oponion. First one is that there are a few chemical factories and also the amount of their pollotion is low therefore, pollotion has weak affect on death of sea otters. Second one is that the predator animals disappear due to their changing diet. Third one is that in some

The lecture and the article cover the decline in sea otters population in the recent few years. Two main theories arised to explain that rapid decline. Pollution is suggested as the main reason behind this decline by the author. However, the lecturer opposes that. He believes that Predation is the main cause.

Manly Sea Eagles secured their place in the 2015 VB NSW Cup finals campaign by completely blowing the Wentworthville Magpies away 58-16.

Kitson Jazynka’s purpose in writing “Saving sea otters is just part of her normal day at work”is to recount that will saving a few sea mammals save the whole species?Otters in Alaska have been dying very fast the last 10 years. They think the bacteria in the water is killing the Otters. Their health can help. The scientist figure out most of the sea mammals health. Anything impacting the otters can also impact and other species in the ocean

Conservation Efforts: Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes is as a least concerned species but among human settlements their habitats are being damaged. Northern Pacific Rattlesnake populations are being impacted by agricultural expansion, habitat destruction, entertainment purposes, hide trading and road construction. Vehicle collision is the most common way for Northern Pacific Rattlesnake to be killed.

Steller sea lion pups possess thick rough coats with a mostly dark appearance. After the first molt, their color lightens. The complexion of female and male Steller sea lions is a golden-brown to a reddish brown. They have a somewhat darker shade in their chest and abdomen. Steller sea lions also display sexual dimorphism which means that the males are remarkably larger than females. Similar to all pinnipeds, the Steller sea lions have whiskers to sense prey. They also molt every year which parallels to other pinnipeds, and they are mainly insulated by blubber. In addition, they have flippers that are used for locomotion. Their sensory organs are accommodated to operate both underwater and in the air, but because they are mammals they have to come up to the surface in order to breathe.

Steller sea lions (Eumetiopias jubatus) are the only member of Eumetiopias and are one of the biggest of the eared seals. Steller sea lions feed mainly on fish, and sometimes even various types of shellfish. Many Steller sea lions can be found along the coast of Western Alaska. Generally, Western Alaska has relatively warm summers, cold winters, and mild temperatures during the spring and fall, with the highest amounts of rainfall during the summertime. Steller sea lions have recently come under the scope of many researchers because of their sudden and significant decline of population in recent times. In some places such as the Aleutian Islands, which is an island chain found in the Western part of Alaska, the population of Steller sea lions