Sea Otters Declination: Article Analysis

Decent Essays
The text and the lecture are about reasons that caused sea otters declination. The text provide two reasons ro suppot the pollution theory of otters declining. However, the lecturer refutes this theoty and states that three reason is predator, ocra.

First, the text says thata lot of sourses of chemical pollution are allonf the Alaskan coast. Thus the chemical pollution could cause immune system of sea otters and as a result to decline populatiion. However, the lecture says thatit it have not found any threatened otter, but if this theory right we should find a lot od daeth animals. Moreover the predator theory explains why we do not find death animals.

Second, the text says that other sea mammals too declined, and it is explained by pollution

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Population Dynamic Lab Report Purpose: Analyze graphs to determine the population size of two marine species. Explain how predation, birth, and death rates impact marine populations. Describe how biotic and abiotic factors influence marine populations. Research: 1. Prey Initial Size: The starting number of prey.…

    • 821 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An example of habitat degradation is commercial and recreational vessels. These vessels pollute the water by oil spills, sewage, gas drilling and construction. The people need to realize that there are animals under them trying to…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sea Otters Case Study

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages

    1) After looking at the graphs in Figures 3 and 4, it is obvious that killer whales are the cause behind the deaths of a large amount of sea otters. Despite the data for Figure 3 showing all sea otter the researchers encountered, while the data for Figure 4 showing sea otters with radio tags, both figures still show a drastic decrease in sea otter population with the only main difference between Kulak Bay and Clam Lagoon being the ease of access that killer whales have to the areas. The researchers looked at 2 different sets of data because they wanted to show the general decline in the population in figure 3 and then show a more specific set of otters to show that the general decline was not because of human error. By having figure 4 focus on…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Jessica Montez Period 6 Ecology Essay Sea otters may be the second smallest marine animals, but you would be surprised of what happened if they disappeared. Sea otters have an important role in their ecosystem, their food web, and their interactions with other organisms. They are an intelligent species, and I'll tell you why. Sea otters eat about 40 different marine species.…

    • 62 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Discuss: Martin’s hypothesis of the Pleistocene Overkill states that humans were directly responsible for the extinction of the large mammals in north Eurasia and the Americas during the Late Pleistocene era. Martin observed that there is a connection between the time humans began inhabiting north Eurasia and the Americas, and the extinction of the majority of enormous mammals. The overkill hypothesis states that the predecessors of the Native Americans arrived in North America (approximately fourteen thousand years ago), there were a myriad of large mammal species which had never seen humans before. As a result, the mammals did not sense that they should be worried about these small two legged beings. The humans were able to benefit from this…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Missing Sea Otters

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages

    According to the article “Search for the Missing Sea Otters: An Ecological Detective Story” by Mary E. Allen and Mark L. Kuhlmann, the sea otter population has been decreasing at a rapid pace since the 1990’s in Aleutian, Alaska. This is demonstrated by article “What Could be the Cause of Decreasing Otter Numbers” which states that in 1997, the decline of the sea otter population had increased to about 90%. They hypothesize that the decrease in the sea otter population has been caused by their predator, the killer whale because the sea otter’s bodies do not come ashore. The evidence suggests that killer whales are eating the sea otters because in the text “What Predator Could be Causing the Large Decrease in Otter Numbers”…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sea Otters Research Paper

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Enhydra lutris, commonly known as sea otter, is the second smallest marine mammal that lives in shallow coastal waters of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Sea otters are often found in areas with protection from the most severe ocean winds, such as rocky coastlines, thick kelp forests, and barrier reefs. They are considered a keystone species because they are crucial to the health of the nearshore marine ecosystem. Because sea otters eat sea urchins, which are herbivores that feed on kelp, they allow kelp forests to grow and in turn create habitat for many other species.…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Sea Otter Decline

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The reading states that the pollution hypothesis seemed the more likely cause for sea otter decline and provides three reasons of support. However, the professor states that predation hypothesis is the most likely cause of the sea otter decline and refutes each of the authors' reasons. First, the reading states that increasing in levels of chemicals could decrease the otters' resistance cause infections to life-threatening infections and death to sea otters. The professor opposes this point by saying that this point is weakened because people could not find dead sea otters on beaches.…

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Why Do Sea Otters Exist

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are many scenarios that could occur if sea otters disappeared in the ecosystems where they currently exist. Sea otters are considered a keystone species in these ecosystems, so the entire eco-system could be altered drastically and one can expect multiple species to be negatively affected which may diminish diversity. To start with, the most likely immediate effect would be the top down impact discussed above. Free from predators, the sea urchin population would explode (assuming that a new predator of sea urchins does not appear to fill the otter’s niche).…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sea Otter Research Paper

    • 1596 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Given the key role Sea Otters play when it comes to the ecosystem they face a wide variety of threats that has lead to the decrease in their population over the past century. One of the earliest threat that lead to the start of their decline was hunting. Their thick pelts were considered one of the most valuable fur pelt in the world at one point and was used for a variety of accessories, like belts, capes, etc... (Larson et al.., 2002). In 1911, indiscriminate hunting of such animals were brought to an end, yet illegal poaching remains an issue for endangered animals today. In order to recuperate a small amount of surviving Sea Otters were reintroduced to areas that they were eliminated from by means of translocation but because of their small population, the levels of genetic variation/diversity were much lower than that of other mammals (Larson et al.., 2002).…

    • 1596 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Otter Research Paper

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages

    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.…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sea Otters Essay

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A keystone species play a far more important role than it’s relative abundance suggests. These species are the center pieces of their given communities and without them their ecosystem and habitat will fall apart. Keystones species are generally found in low numbers are often apex predators that control distribution and population, but are not limited to food sources, mutualistic species, and different providers. Some of these species are even ecosystem engineers that create or maintain habitats for other species. Two of the most amazing keystone species are the sea otter and the American alligator.…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On De-Extinction

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Currently many animals are at risk of extinction due to pollution, overharvesting and habitat destruction. (Text 4) In text 3 it states “de -extinction tend to resurrect single charismatic species yet millions of species are at risk of extinction.” In other words there are many species at the brink of extinction yet scientists are concerned about the de-extinction of species. In addition it is believed that de-extinction will become a “moral hazard”.…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Knowing the relationship between cause and effect can create the conclusion that shark finning is a factor that causes the extinction of shark species. Therefore, stopping this cause will lead to a regrowth in shark populations. Shark finning does indeed supply a downgrade in shark population, but the sharks reproduction is not…

    • 2517 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many species in the world are endangered and eventually becoming extinct. The main problem that generates extinction is human activity; people cause extinction every day and unknowingly to them, it is killing innocent animals. Due to pollution, natural forces, human interaction, and loss of habitats, animal extinction is a major crisis in the world; people are the only ones that can save the animal population before it is too late. Pollution is among the most insidious threats to animal extinction. It can be as obvious as sewage and oil spills in water or as invisible as chemicals used every day.…

    • 1772 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays