Dugong Research
Scientific name: Dugong Dugon
Status: Vulnerable to extinction since 1982 (IUCN)
Appendix I of CITES
Taxonomy:
Class Mammalia
Order Sirenia
Family Dugongidae
Genus Dugong
Species dugon
Common Name dugong or sea cow
Local Name duyong or baboy dagat
Description:
The dugong is one of the 24 species of marine mammals present in the Philippine waters. The dugong is the only representative of the order Sirenia to be found in the country. It is a truly unique aquatic animal, being the only herbivorous mammal whose preferred habitat is the sea. Like people and other mammals, the dugong is warm-blooded, has hairs, breathes air and the mother suckles their young. It has been noted that stories on mermaids are attributed to this unique animal due to its striking resemblance – fish-like tail, brownish smooth skin, mammary glands, woman-like genitalia and even its’ suckling baby.
An adult dugong can grow to more than three meters in length and can weigh more than 400 kg. Newborns are a little over a meter, while mature animals measure at least 2.5 meters in length (Marsh et al. 1984). The dugong’s body is torpedo-shaped with whale-like flukes. The neck is short and indistinct. The flippers are small and short are used for manoeuvring and as a support during feeding or resting at the sea bottom.
The color of an adult dugong is greyish bronze, which becomes lighter ventrally. Neonates and juveniles are lighter and are browner in color. The skin is tough, heavily scarred and usually colonized with barnacles in older animals. Short/stiff hair and fine/thin hair is sparsely distributed throughout the back of the animal. Hair is almost absent in the abdomen but are large, thick and abundant in the snout region. The upper lip forms the rostral disc, which is horseshoe in shape and is covered with a lot of thick and long vibrissae used for probing. A unique feature is around 25-35 mm thick (not as thick compared to other marine mammals, since protection from the cold is not a great problem for this warm and shallow water species).
First, the pros of year round schooling can include; effects on absence and burnout rates, effects on budget, more frequent breaks, and also a big effect on academic achievement. The way that year round schooling works to reduce burnout and also reduce absences is that by having more frequent breaks; students are less likely to want to skip class. This is definitely noticeable after spring break where most schools don’t have any days off until the end of the year that is usually more than 2 months straight. In other words the “April, May, June stretch”. Year round schooling will also help students with their academics as well because with the way the schedule is set up, students do not ha...
The mudpuppy to me is one of my favorite animals that live under water. The mudpuppy is related to amphibians. One thing that makes the mudpuppy different is that their gills never go away like other amphibians gills do. There gills kind of look like bushes underwater just swaying around. According to “National Geographic” they say that, “mudpuppies are easily distinguishable by their bushy, red external gills, which they grow as larva and never lose. They have flat heads, wide tails, stubby les, and feet with four distinct toes. Their bodies are gray or brownish-gray with blue- black spots” (1). They have almost all the same characteristics as salamanders do: like toes and the patterns on their bodies. According to the book “A Natural History of Amphibians” the authors Robert C. Stebbins and Nathan W. Cohen talk about the skin of amphibians and they said,
Orcinus orca is the scientific name for the massive marine mammal. Orcas are not rare, but have declining numbers in some areas (Martin.) Orcas are found from the Artic Ocean to the Antartic Ocean. (Britannica) They belong to the Delphinidae, or dolphin family, which is the largest of their species. Female orcas grow to be at the most 15 feet, and weigh up to 4 tons, but the males can grow as large as 20-30 feet, and weight up to 8 tons. (Martin) The color of the orca is white in some spots, black on the majority of the body, and gray just behind the dorsal fin. It is white on the chin, belly and the eye. The white patch above the eye is usually mistaken for the eye, and may confuse their prey, but acts as a camouflage for the eye. The name “killer whale” makes people tend to believe that this is a viscious man-eating mammal, yet it is one of the most shrewd, docile and playful species of the marine mammals. The orca is sexually mature at 10-15 years of age, much like humans, which is 12-13 years of age. They tend to mate year round, and is able to have a calf every two years. It is interesting to know that lactation of the mother lasts 12 or more months (Wynne.) The life expectancy of orcas is 45-50 years of age.
Orca whales are the largest members of the dolphin family. Orcas are very curious creatures, they like to sky hop, which is when they poke their heads out of the water and look around, and they can also dive to as much as a hundred feet. These social animals live in pods and stay with them for their whole lives. They are so family oriented that they can may sleep together in a tight circle and have synchronized breathing. Orcas can grow up to thirty-two feet and can weigh nine tons. They typically eat five percent of their body weight and are amazing hunters. The lifespan of an orca in their natural habitat is about fifty years. This lifestyle for them is wonderful because they can swim as far as they want to and are free. Orcas should not be held captive because the capture process is dangerous, it is not good for their health, and their trainers are at risk. Free Willy. Dir Simon Wincer. 1993.Video. Warner Bros Home Video
There are many advantages to year round schooling. The two major advantages for year round schooling is the elimination or reduction in learning loss during summer breaks and improvement of student achievement. Winter, also stated other advantages such as attendance in school, reduction in drop out rate, student attitudes, and teacher attitudes. Less absenteeism by both teachers and students.The students attitudes were more positive to school and learni...
As a student, it can be hard to remember things from past school years, when you have a long summer break breaking the educational flow. This knowledge loss over a long summer break can lead to a lot of time being wasted on re-teaching past lessons. Year round schooling supports the teachers to just keep continually teaching kids new information over a year long period, without big reviews which can take up days or weeks depending on the subject. Also, when students are let out for a long summer break, it can cause new sleeping patterns and motivational habits to develop. This can be a problem when school starts up and kids are out of sync from the long summer break they just had. With the year-round schooling the breaks are much shorter which could prevent a student from getting into a new sleep or study habit. Having well rested and attentive students is a big help to the teachers.Year-round schooling is also helpful for teachers because with the numerous breaks they would have more time to catch up on grading papers and/or projects from their classes; parents would then have better up-to-date status of their child’s grades. If students go to a year-round school they could have a better chance of not getting homework over their breaks (Debate.org). This is because most teachers who teach at year-round schools feel that they are not as rushed to teach their curriculum because they don’t have to waste time on reviewing past lessons and kids can use their past knowledge better to help understand what they are learning
After a long summer, the time has finally come for Sam and his classmates to return to school. Sam dreads going back to school, because he knows that the first weeks of school mean long, boring reviews. Despite the fact that Sam and his friends do not like to study topics they have already learned, they need to review because most students forget what they learned over the three-month break period. Many students can relate to Sam, wasting two weeks or more at the beginning of the school year. Parents, teachers, and students across the United States believe a better option exists that will waste less time. Many suggest the idea of a year-round school schedule. Almost all schools should adopt a year-round schedule because of the many advantages including higher academic
Although this may be true and the students may be increasing their intelligence, the absence of a true summer can be a negative for all concerned. Summers off have long been a light at the end of the tunnel for teachers after an intense school year. And students need time to relieve themselves from a constant social setting where bullying and harassment can be hard to get away from while still at school (Pros and Cons of Year Round School). Summers are very beneficial to everyone. Teachers and students get a break, but also parents get more quality time to spend with their
Although year-round school is not something that most Americans are used to, it is much more beneficial than the original nine-month schooling. Nine-month schooling has been around for a very long time, but it is also out dated. Nine-month schooling was a way to help farmers keep their children at home for extra help during the summer months. Now, more and more people are living in town, and farmers have advanced equipment. Year-round school is a great way to give students and teachers more frequent breaks throughout the school year so they do not get burnt out. It will also shorten the review time each year, and allow teachers to teach more throughout the school year. The multi-tracking system allows
3..2..1.. summer the yearlong torturer of another school year is over and summer has begun but what do we forget during our break, students traditionally return to school to repeat the process of acclimating to new teachers, new classmates, and a new classroom. Students struggle to remember lessons and assignments they have not been taught for months. The summer learning loss, many schools have implemented year-round schooling. The Association for Year-Round Education reported that in 2007 that 3,000 year-round schools enrolled more than 2 million students in the United States. But does the research show that year-round schooling really pays off? Students in year-round schools do as well or slightly better in terms of achievements than students in traditional schools.
The 7,109 islands that make up the Philippines have a diverse range of both aquatic and land-dwelling life-forms. The coral reefs there and throughout the world are facing new challenges. Pollution, climate change and destructive fishing methods all threaten the health of fragile coral reefs. This is where Samantha has focused much of her work. She dives, takes amazing photographs and videos, and spreads her excitement about marine biology to teach and encourage others about the importance of conserving our oceans and coral
To have year round schooling it much more expensive than a regular school year, to have school year round it, can cost “up to $1,300 more per student.” Also, most students in high school have a summertime job for those three months. But, if schooling was year round teens wouldn't be able to work in the summer. So the amount of times teens can work would decrease. In addition, kids would be much busier with school year around because of all the work and less free time to do whatever. For instance, kids with a lot of homework, projects and other things from school wouldn’t allow them to do things they like in their free time. For example, kids wouldn't be able to hang out with friends, family, play travel sports, or go on vacations because of the lack of free time they would get with school year
When facing a hungry hunter the ballfish rapidly swallow around 35 gulps of water in the course of 14seconds which are then pumped into stomach. Biologist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Elizabeth Brainerd, has recently shown that a pufferfish’s stomach is a perfect water ballon. As water pours into it, the stomach expands up to 100 times its normal volume. Pufferfish skin is also set for ballooning. It is made of wavy fibres that straighten out as the fish inflates. When the skin expands the fish’s tail and fins immerse into skin, forming a nearly perfect sphere (balloon). When the wavy fibres finally pull tight, they become hard, giving the pufferfish a tough shell that protect from predators, giving them a hard time to penetrating. Some species have spines normally hiding in these skin fibres, but when skin is tighten spines flip up. When fish gets bigger it gives a signal to predator “don’t come closer I’m not so small as you thought”.
The Humpback Whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, is part of the marine mammals group. They are found in oceans all over the world, they live in open waters. Even though they are mammals, they do not live on land (Monterey Bay Aquarium). Humpback whales are known for their magical song that can travel great distances. These gentle giants are omnivores, their main diet is krill. They are mostly found near coastlines feeding on tiny shrimp-like krill, plankton and small fish. Humpbacks migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the poles to warmer winter breeding water closer to the Equator. Humpback whales are powerful swimmers, and they use their massive tail fin, called a fluke to propel themselves through or even out of the water! Mothers and their young swim close together, often touching one another with their flippers with what appears to be gestures of affection. Even though it takes more than one year for a humpback whale to grow fully, mother whales leave them after one year (National Geographic).
Preen, A., & Marsh, H. (1995). Response of dugongs to large-scale loss of seagrass from Hervey Bay, Queensland Australia. Wildlife Research, 22(4), 507-519.