Atolls, on the other hand, are formed far offshore and they make a ring-shaped reef that close a circular lagoon. Coral reefs are the largest biological structures on the planet. The largest structure is the Great Barrier Reef covering over 2,000 kilometers along the east coast of Australia. The reef is said to be 500,000 to 2,500,000 years old. Besides global warming there is another problem with this beautiful structure and that is the result of several local natural and human factors such as over fishing.
Life in the Great Barrier Reef Some of the most unique and beautiful creatures in the world can be found in the Great Barrier Reef. Around thirty species of whales, dolphins and porpoises have been recorded in the Great Barrier Reef, including the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, and the humpback whale. Over 1,500 fish species live on the reef, including the clownfish, red bass, red-throat emperor, and several species of snapper and coral trout. Six species of sea turtles including the green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, hawksbill turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, flat back
Another related species, the Dugong, has a fluked tail. One species, the Stellar’s Sea Cow, was hunted to extinction in 1768-only 27 years after it was discovered. It was the largest and the only manatee species to live in sub-Arctic waters. They originated about 45-50 million years ago and their closest
Litter sizes vary from one to 15 with White Tips are a commercially important animal to humans seeing as how its fins are used for shark fin soup and its meat and oils utilized for consumption, its hides are often used for leather as well. Many scientists have referred to this shark as the most dangerous shark in the world, despite the more notorious Great White and Tiger, the white tip is responsible for more human deaths then all shark species combined. With one incident alone, the torpedoing of USS Indianapolis on 30 July 1945, giving a minimum figure of between 60 and 80 sailors killed by sharks. While diving with these sharks is done often it is not advised. So Respect and Fear this great animal who is number 4 on animal planets deadliest
Scientific Whaling in the Southern Pacific Ocean, Effects on the Environment and Legislation. Introduction Whales have inhabited the earth’s oceans for millions of years and are a vital part of the ocean’s ecosystem. Since the 1600s, whales have been hunted out of the seas and no species has fully recovered. They also contend with pollution, climate change, ozone layer loss, overfishing, vessel traffic, noise and entanglement in fishing gear. Whales are mammals that live for a long time and breed slowly.
Latest technological advances have increased the threat to the marine animal, especially for turtles. It's believed that many species of turtle already got extinct and seven species of turtle are in the verge of extinction. Olive Ridley is one among the seven breeds that are in the verge of extinction. Features of Olive Ridley Olive Ridley turtles have been around a very long time, more than 100,000,000 years. Olive Ridley sea turtles, Lepidochelys olivacea are small, hard-shelled marine turtles, one of the two species of the genus Lepidochelys, and a member of the Family Cheloniidae.
Though they are quite rare, Asian sea otters range from the Kuril Islands of Japan to the Commander Islands of Russia (Hattori et al. 2005). These geographic locations offer the perfect habitat for sea otters, which prefer coastal, shallow waters. Occasionally, sea otters will be spotted outside of this range but the limits do not change unless an “outermost main population raft” is spotted (Hattori 2005). Though these ranges continue to grow, they still remain vulnerable to oil spills, like the Valdez oil spill, which would eradicate entire colonies that take years to re-establish (Bodkin et al.
Predators: Killer whales and polar bears prey on beluga whale adults and babies. 2. Hunting by humans: a. Since ancient times, the original Canadian, Alaskan, and Russian have hunted beluga whales for meat, blubber, and skin. People used to use only tanned beluga skin as leather because it was only leather that they can use.
The world’s coral reefs covers only about 368,000 square miles occupying less than three tenths of one percent of the ocean’s floor. Although the ecosystem is a small one, close to one million species of fish, crabs, eels, molluscs, sponges, worms, algae, grasses and other marine life call the coral reefs their home. But the coral reefs are depleting. There are many factors that contribute to the depletion of coral reefs. They are coral mining, climate, diseases, tourism, blast fishing, farm runoff, sewage, oil and industrial pollution.
Sharks are known to be fierce predators of the sea, and with the capability to venture into freshwater it makes their hunting grounds very vast. While other sharks could have difficulty finding food at sea, the bull shark may roam into rivers