The Narwhal is a whale and is also known as the unicorn of the sea. It is in the family of bottlenose dolphins, orcas, and Belugas (World Wildlife Fund). The scientific name for the Narwhal is Monodon monoceros and it is Greek meaning one-tooth, one-horn. It can grow up to 13-16 feet in length and weighs almost 2 tons (4,000 pounds). The region they are usually located is around the Arctic waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia. They are known as unicorns of the sea because they have a tusk, one of their teeth, coming out of the front of the skull. According to the World Wildlife fund (2014), “Males most commonly have tusks, and some may even have two. The tusk, which can grow as long as 10 feet, is actually an enlarged tooth.” The female does not usually grow tusks. The tusks are ivory, and that is one major reason why Narwhals are hunted since ivory is worth a lot of money.
Narwhals are not endangered, but they are nearly threatened. During the spring, summer, and fall Narwhals are hunted the most. Narwhals are also considered as the animal most threatened by climate change (Felsinger, 2008). With Narwhals being sea creatures, it would give them greater risks for becoming endangered and threatened. Narwhals are also threatened by the industries on the waters, like the oil, gas productions, and commercial fishing. By means of hunters, weather changes, other sea creatures, and even being close to populated areas, Narwhals face greater chances of being harmed or killed.
The cause of the problem
With hunters, weather changes, other sea creatures, and even being close to populated areas, Narwhals face greater chances of being harmed or killed. There are other factors like contaminants in the waters or the commercial fishi...
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...oday.com/tech/science/2008-04-25-narwhals-warming_N.htm. April 2008. Accessed March 6, 2014.
Felsinger, Alex. http://planetsave.com/2008/12/03/canada-ignores-rescue-option-kills-500-endangered-narwhals-2/. 2008. Accessed March 6, 2014.
Encyclopedia of Life. http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/165116/. March 2013. Accessed March 6, 2014.
Heimbuch, Jaymi. http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/canada-allows-killing-of-over-500-narwhals.html. December 2008. Accessed March 6, 2014.
• Richard, P. R., Laake, J. L., Hobbs, R. C., Heide-Jørgensen, M. P., Asselin, N. C., & Cleator, H. H. (2010). Baffin Bay Narwhal Population Distribution and Numbers: Aerial Surveys in the Canadian High Arctic, 2002-04. Arctic, 63(1), 85-99.
http://glbvv001.enmu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=49005618&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Sharks have also been subjected to medical research, games and competitions, jewellery, souvenirs and cosmetics. We need to take into consideration that sharks play a vital role in the natural world that we live in. it is imperative that we look after these majestic creatures and ensure they remain protected. We need to be aware of the dangers of sharks, swim in protected areas where there are shark nets, and do not swim after dark in the sea (especially not alone) as the sea is the sharks home. Humans should also be wearing wet suits as protection in the ocean. The sea is where they live, they swim freely and they eat – they do not particularly target humans but rather prey on food that is available to them in their habitat.
Isle Royal is located fifty-six miles north of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. It is the largest wilderness area in Michigan (USNPS, 2014). The island is surrounded by Lake Superior, which creates a cooler temperature. This results in arctic plant species growth on the island. There are only eighteen mammal species present on the island because most mammals cannot make the trip across the frozen great lake (USNPS, 2014). The need for an ice bridge is not the only environmental factor that is stopping the migration of animals; there is also the severe cold, and also wind and fog (Vucetich, 2012). Some species such as caribou and coyote have found the island to be too intense and have gone extinct (Vucetich, 2012). Due to the harsh weather and isolation of the island, humans have never regularly lived on the island (Vucetich, 2012). Some of species that are present such as the red squirrel are becoming their own subspecies due to its separation from the mainland (USNPS, 2014). The isolation of Isle Royal is what makes it a great place to conduct research, it has very low human interaction and the species that are on the island will have been and continue to be isolated from the mainland.
Unlike most other whales, Narwhals have no dorsal fin, instead they have a low bumpy ridge that begins at about the midpoint of the back and continues to the fluke#. Tusks The tusks, giving Narwhals the name, “Sea Unicorn”, is actually a tooth that can reach up to nine feet long and can weigh up to 20 pounds. Males and females are born with two teeth pointing forward in the upper jaw. The left tooth of the male grows long and spirals counter clockwise toward the tip.
In the past twenty years a large amount of bottlenose dolphin have been killed due to the tuna fishery. In the Eastern Pacific swim large schools of tuna, these shoals tend to be under herds of dolphins, for some unexplained reason. Because of this, fishermen can easily find schools of tuna. The tuna are being caught under purse seine nets, which encircles the shoals of tuna and then is pulled back on board the fishing vessel, catching both tuna and dolphin. Initially the mortality rate was 500,000 each year for dolphins alone. Although some efforts are made to encourage the dolphins to leave the net by backing down part of the net, which allows the dolphins to escape, there are still a large number of mortalities (Bryant). On the other hand, in the last few years there has been dramatic progress in stopping the fishing industries from using purse sine nets. It has been found that dolphins are in immediate danger of extinction if these fishing techniques don’t stop.
Their dorsal fin is extremely long, tampered and pointed in a triangular shape or rounded and curved towards the end. The skull is oval shaped and the beak is extremely short and rounded at the end. The killer whale’s jaw is powerful with teeth that are able to tear apart flesh of their prey. They can withstand the jolting, wiggling and hurtling movements of prey that are trying to escape. The killer whale is born with a single blow hole instead of two. Their flippers are paddle shaped with rounded ends and flukes are tapered back and pointed at the end resembling to a triangle/pyramid
In 1961, Sea World started with their orca program. They started off by herding orcas into coves and taking their babies from the coast of Washington. At first everyone from the whale hunters to the everyday civilian believed that SeaWorld was only doing this for the whale’s benefit. Of course, there was those few critics that said the whales should stay in their natural habitat, and that it was inhumane. But Sea world seemed to be very good at covering their backs.
Seaworld is a giant marine life theme park. The greatest attraction to these many theme park would be those killer whales. In fact, these killer whales are the face of the park. As gigant as these mammals are, seaworld is keeping them in some pretty tight quarters. Mr. Jett and Mr.Ventre says “Wild killer whales can swim a hundred miles daily as they socialize, forage, communicate, and breed. In stark contrast, with little horizontal or vertical space in their enclosures, captive orcas swim only limited distances, with most spending many hours surface resting.” The animals don't have the freedom they need. Also when taking the whales out of their natural habit the whales tend to be depressed and not as heath in that situation. They need their freedom in the big ocean blue. Bring them into the small living units, breeding whales in captivity all for the entertainment of humans. At young ages the calves are taken away from their mothers on to a new seaworld park. Mothers of the calves have even been seen denying their offspring.
Shark nets have been implemented in locations across the world in response to shark sightings and attacks. Nets are submerged beneath the surface of the water, roughly 200 metres from the shoreline. The meshing is designed to be large to capture sharks, leaving them to struggle before eventually drowning under the weight of their own body. The meshing allows small fish to pass through, however captures larger fish and marine species. Shark nets provide no discrimination between common, vulnerable and endangered species, resulting in a high mortality rate for a variety of marine wildlife.
Jack London’s novel, The Sea-Wolf, has many different interpretations. The story can be read as a combination of the naturalistic novel and the sentimental romance, both very popular around the turn of the century. London also brings into play literary naturalism, in which human beings are characterized as just another species in nature, subject to all of Her cosmic forces. The Sea-Wolf fits almost perfectly the archetypal pattern of an initiation story. Depth and interest are added to The Sea-Wolf by successfully integrating these three elements -- the combination of two popular genres, literary naturalism, and the initiation story.
When fishers throw their nets, the turtles get caught in the nets causing damages to their body or drowning them. When juvenile loggerheads head to their foraging area in the water, they are highly exposed to bycatching, international longlines, and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) longline fisheries causing high mortality rates (Peckham et al. 2008). Though juveniles have a higher mortality rate due to bycatch, longlines and trade since they are still maturing, adults are easily exposed to these threats as
In 2015 only 59 shark attacks have occurred around the world compared to the millions of sharks killed by humans every year. Due to these accidental shark attacks people tend to think that sharks, especially Great Whites are evil creatures with malice intentions when attacks do occur; but, on the contrary that is wrong. Sharks are not the only beautiful and unique creatures in the ocean, they also play a vital role in our ecosystem; however, due to human interference they might not be around much longer, through awareness sharks can be protected from endangerment.
Thesis: Sharks should be conserved because they are an important part of the ocean, attacks are often incidental, and human behavior influences the behavior of sharks.
The morphology of whale sharks is mostly similar to aquatic fish species, but many specific traits help differentiate them from the rest. Whale sharks are the largest fish in the world and can reach a size of around 20 meters (Martins, C., and C. Knickle). This is often compared to the size of a school bus. The shark has a very large transverse mouth. They have 5 very large gill slits and have a larger first dorsal fin compared to the second one (Whale Shark). They have a distinctive spotted “checkerboard” pattern with stripes (Martins, C., and C. Knickle). It is not exactly known why they have this specific body marking. It is believed that the body markings act as a camouflage. The strange thing about whale sharks is that they have 300 rows of teeth that play no role in feeding (Martins, C., and C. Knickle).
The Land Shark Index Page. Anti-Vivisection Index. March 1995. The Land Shark.
The walrus, also know as the saber-tooth seal, is a large flippered mammal. Walrus means gregarious marine animal and is related to eared seals as both animals have two large down-pointing tusks. The walrus’s scientific name is Odobenus rosmarus. The walrus also has mustache. Walruses live in the Arctic. Walruses tusks are very helpful. They can haul big animal bodies out of water (i.e. tooth walking) and they also use their tusks to break holes in the ice. Walruses tusks can grow up to 3 feet for both male and female (National Geographic).