ENDANGERED OCEAN ANIMALS
By: Sanjana Kamble
Introduction
SPLASH! You're in Costa Rica deep sea diving. The wonders of color swim in your face. You see many fish and aquatic creatures. The beautiful life of these creatures endorse you on your swim. You think," The ocean is such a wonderful place. These animals should survive and thrive in their natural habitats." But then you realize. Ocean animals aren't doing pretty well...
How is the ocean polluted?
Pollution is the act of making something dirty. Pollution affects the ocean in many ways. When sewage and wastes are taken onto a boat and dumped into the ocean, the ocean is polluted. All that waste goes into the ocean and animals die by accidentally eating it. Have you ever dropped a piece of something something on the sand and just left it there? Well, that's called littering. People litter anything wrappers to cans. What people don't know is that these wastes get carried off into the ocean by the waves and eventually reach the ocean animals. The last way how the ocean can get polluted is oil spills. Oil spills are the release of liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the ocean due to human activity. All these factors lead to the endangerment or even EXTINCTION of marine animals.
Words to Know
endangered- seriously at risk of being extinct
extinction- species has not been seen for at least 50 years
The Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a warm blooded mammal. There are two families are whales; toothed and toothless. Another name for the toothless family are the baleen family. Humpback whales are baleen and baleen whales grow larger than toothed whales.
How are Humpbacks Endangered?
The main reason why humpback whales are endangered are because of whale hunters. These whales have been endangered for a long time. In the 19th century whale products were in demand so industries grew. Blubber was the reason why humpback whales were hunted. Blubber was boiled down to make many useful products from wagon springs to women's undergarments. More than 2 million whales are hunted by whale hunters!
How did people try to help?
Many laws were passed to help these animals but people kept hunting the humpback whale. Whale hunters claimed they used the whales for research when they actually cut the whale up and sold them. If killing continues, the Humpback Whale could become extinct.
The Steller Sea Lion
Eared Seal
The Eared Seal has small ears. They can run and walk on four limbs.
True Seals
True Seals have ear openings. They are different from Eared Seals because they can not walk on land. Instead they "hump" their bodies across sandy beaches and rocks.
The Steller Sea Lion
The Steller Sea Lion is a True Seal. True Seals and Eared Seals are the two types of seals.
The map above shows where the Steller Sea Lion is located. They are found along the coasts of California and coasts of the Pacific Ocean. Their population has decreased because of seal hunters
The Steller Sea Lion was a source of blubber for the California settlers. They realized that the sea lion's blubber could be used for oil. Settlers used the oil to make candles since electricity wasn't invented yet. The Steller Sea Lion's population decreased by a LOT because of this cause.
The Brown Pelican
The Brown Pelican is among the 7 species of pelicans. All 7 of them like to live in freshwater lakes. But the Brown Pelican likes to ocean to feed off of fish. It has a special way to catch fish. The Pelican uses its huge mouth to catch the fish. It dives straight toward the ocean reaching for the fish with its mouth. They are endangered because of a dangerous chemical called DDT. They reach this chemical through contaminated fish.
The Harbor Seal
Harbor Seals live along northern coasts but the bad part is they are decreasing rapidly in number. Some areas are already EXTINCT! This is due to oil spills, pollution, killing and hunting. They belong to the true seal family and they can not walk on land. Although the harbor seal can not walk on land they are able to breed on land.
They find their food in the sea which is a quite a resourceful skill. Male harbor seals mate when they are 6 or 7 but females mate when they are 3 or 4. Baby seals shed their hair which is called molting. The last thing about harbor seals is that they are covered in thick blubber which allows them to live in cold water.
Facts About The California Sea Lion
- Live on the coasts of Baja, Mexico and the Galapagos Islands on the coasts of Ecuador.
- Breed in June and July
- At sea, they leap out of water
- When they rest, they float in groups called rafts
- Major targets of seal hunters
- Existed in great numbers
- Rookeries were on California's mainlands which was easy for hunters to spot
- Population: Low
- Increasing because of protection laws
SHARKS
What do you think when you hear someone mention about sharks? Probably that they are the most dangerous and deadliest creatures and they shouldn't be cuddled with. Turns out even though sharks are fierce they still need protection laws these creatures are ENDANGERED!
A 1970s book and movie inspired people to hunt sharks and take actions. This is what caused the shark population to drop drastically. The movie and book showed how dangerous sharks really were and people didn't want to live in a world where sharks are the evil enemy. So they took action. It makes sense that millions of sharks kill humans but facts show that people have killed more sharks than the other way around!
Sharks actually go way back. They've swam the oceans for over 350 million years; that's even before the dinosaurs existed. Sharks would have lived longer if humans had left them alone but the constant fear that we have of sharks just keeps making their lives worst. Not only are people hunting sharks for safety but they are also hunting them for sport and food! If people continue doing this then it might be even too late to save the sharks.
The Elephant Seal
The Southern Elephant Seal
One of the two species
Live in the seas off Antarctica
The Northern Elephant Seal
One of the two species
Live in Pacific coasts of Mexico and California
How you can help
There are many ways that you can help the ocean. One way is to write letters to the government. Another way is when you are at the beach do not litter. And if you see trash or garbage on the beach just pick it up. When you're at a party and you get a balloon don't release it. Releasing balloons can harm the ocean animals because the balloons might end up in the ocean. Also, you can buy green products.