Summary Of The Impact Of Global Cooling On Whale Populations

The evolutionary path of a whale is a fascinating process of a terrestrial mammal that evolves into a marine mammal. This evolutionary path started with one of the earliest ancestors called “Pakicetus”. A Pakicetus was discovered to be a land animal with four legs that had teeth as carnivores. It skull structure was long, but this organism didn’t look like any marine animal. The scientist then discovered that on the skull’s ear region it was surrounded by a bony wall. This feature on an organism only was distinct from one type of species, scientist discovered that this animal “Pakicetus” was an ancestor of a whale. By comparing the early whales Pakicetus to the next generation of ancestors Ambulocetus, the Ambulocetus whale looks more like

The origin of modern day whales, a mystery that has puzzled paleontologists for years, may have just been solved with the discovery of an ankle bone. This discovery might sound simple and unimportant, but the bones of these ancient animals hold many unanswered questions and provide solid proof of origin and behavior. The relationship between whales and other animals has proven to be difficult because whales are warm-blooded, like humans, yet they live in the sea. The fact that they are warm-blooded suggests that they are related to some type of land animal. However, the questions of exactly which animal, and how whales evolved from land to water, have remained unanswered until now.

Killer whales are beautiful creatures that roam the ocean with grace and authority; they are wild animals, meant to be free. As humans it is our job to protect them and revere them. We should be doing this in a way that is conscious of their assertive, wild nature, not in a way that tries to tame them and make them submit to us. Killer whales all over the world have been captured and put into theme parks and training centers for our entertainment, this selfish act is disrespectful to nature, and to the whales that could so easily overpower us. Many injuries have occurred and lives lost, both human lives and animal lives, because of marine entertainment industry and as Christians it is our responsibility to invoke a change, make people more aware of what they are really giving money to, and take better care of God’s creation.

Sea Otters as well as many other species are in danger because of Climate Change.The sudden change in climate has disturbed the ocean’s temperature which causes an insufficient amount of food for sea otters which causes the otters to be malnourished and starved. Because of the change in climate there has been a decrease in the amount of harp seals (Foley, 2013) which happens to be the killer whales main prey, because of this the killer whales have now turned to sea otters. Other likely threats to sea otters because of climate change are ocean acidification in the north Pacific, pathogen transport, marine invasive species, biotoxins withdrawn in bivalve prey, and the recurrence and intensity of storm events (Doroff and Burdin, 2015) . Sea otters have a noticeably solid influence on the wealth of kelp through the impact they have on sea urchins, said James A. Estes, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz who was a co-author on Schmitz 's 2014 review and on the original sea otter study. Otters eat urchins. Urchins eat kelp. So in ocean patches where otters are bountiful, urchin populations collapse and kelp tends to thrive (Estes,Cruz and Schmitz,2014). The study, led by Wilmers and published in 2012, found that across the otter 's range the animal could be indirectly at fault for getting rid of as much as 8.7 million tons of carbon dioxide, more than twice what an average

HOW HAS HUMAN ACTIVITY IMPACTED THE DECLINE IN POPULATION OF THE MACQUARIE ISLAND ELEPHANT SEAL?

Captive Killer Whales 150 Orca Whales have been taken into captivity since 1961. Currently, there is a total of 56 Orcas in captivity. 23 are wild captive and 33 are captive-born (“The Fate of Captive Orcas”). At least 44 Orcas have died at SeaWorld (“Killer Whales in Captivity”).

The effect on orca whales being held in captivity is not the greatest, and the history between humans and the whales that are held in captivity is also not very good. It is a subject that many scientists are working together to learn about. Even though the orcas help to educate kids by doing live shows and by helping the kids understand that they need to save the orca whales that are endangered, orcas should not be held in captivity because many accidents have happened between humans and the captive orcas and it is not good for their health. Another name for the orca whales is the scientific name, “orcinus orca”, or the name that you probably hear most often which is “killer whale”. These killer whales have been known for attacking humans,

How would you feel if you were trapped in a tank with limited space, not in control of your own life, very poor conditions? SeaWorld should release their killer whales from captivity because the whales are declining in health, the facilities are lacking in safety, and the living conditions are decreasing in quality.

The ocean is a vast biome that is constantly changing. There is much to learn about the life within, the article “Omura's whales (Balaenoptera omurai) off northwest Madagascar: ecology, Behavior and conservation needs” showed how our knowledge of the ocean and the life within continues to grow. Balaenoptera omurai, or Omura's whale was only found as a new species in the year 2003. Their are no dependable population size estimates or evaluation of conservation facts because there is not enough data collected on these cetaceans. Scientists are able apply what they learn from some of these organism to humans. In the article “Reproductive Conflict and the Evolution of Menopause in Killer Whales” scientists were able to draw comparisons between Humans and other species.

In the article, “Sperm Whales and Killer Whales with the Largest Brain of All Toothed Whales Show Extreme Differences in Cerebellum” the author Sam H. Ridgway studies the cerebellums of the most widest distributed whales in the world. The killer whale and the sperm whale both have huge brains, but this study suggests why the killer whales have a significantly larger cerebellum than that of the sperm whale. After collecting, measuring, and preserving the species, the skull was ready to be chipped away and the brain ready to be taken from the massive cranium. Once extracted, the brain was measured to determine the cerebellar volume: (length of cerebellum base × width of the base × height × 1/3).

The study was first embarked in an attempt to assess what could be done to help the depleting population of the wester Pacific whale. However, it later turned up evidence that may imply that western Pacific whales may just be California gray whales with different swimming patterns.

Around the world, killer whale populations may be hurt by the effects of pollution mainly caused by toxins. Various chemicals, such as flame retardants, industrial pollutants, oils, and pesticides they have all been known to enter the oceans through waterways and they are all having a major impact on the killer whales. For now, It's safe for the killer whales because they want them to be well and keep them for long as possible.

Killer whales were not considered a threat to humans until one day in February 1991. Keltie Byrne, a marine biology and former killer whale trainer was killed by Tilikum. According to the reports, she slipped from the tank, where Tilikum was located, prevented her from surfacing and killed her. Sadly, another tragedy of a trainer who was killed by someone she knows

The next innocent animal forced to cope with global warming is the whale. With the ocean waters warming more and more, the patches of zooplankton that female whales need to “bulk up” for a full pregnancy and being able to produce milk for her young. When the amount of zooplankton is too low, the right whale,

The blue whales are found in all waters worldwide. They are found in both polar and tropical waters worldwide. The blue whale eats small fish due to the fact they don’t have teeth. One fact that is very interesting is that their heart is around the same size as a small car. Also they can hold their breath as much as air can fit in 2,000 balloons. Right now they are very populated by around 20,000 but numbers will be growing over time. But at one time they were in danger because people were hunting them. Their skin is smooth and it helps them get faster threw the water to sometimes catch food or run away from those who want to eat them.