Dr Carl Meyer from Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology stated that mass levels of shark culling “runs the risk of ecosystem-level cascade effects where a general lack of sharks results in boom or bust in populations of species further down the food chain”. Furthermore when nets are used to trap sharks, often animals such as dolphins, turtles, whales and dugongs become trapped in them. Turtles are one of the most endangered species as a whole and are just innocent bystanders in this war between humans and sharks. We need to be careful of not affecting other animals in this quest to reduce shark numbers in the name of nothing. Sharks can already be caught legally by commercial and recreational fishers so any cull would be largely
Hooked On a Myth Re “Hooked on a Myth,” Commentary, October 8: Victoria Braithwaite argues that fish have feelings. I agree. Just because fish don’t show any emotion in a way we can see doesn’t mean that they don’t feel pain. People think that because they don’t how emotion we can treat them any way we want Studies show that fish have the same two types of nociceptors that we do, allowing them to detect pain. For example, Braithwaite stimulated the nociceptors by injecting dilute vinegar or bee venom under the skin of the trout.
At first, he talks about how different it is to observe the whales rove in the wild comparing to those he had seen in the Vancouver Public Aquarium. He wonders if a wild animal imprisoned in a small pool can ever be considered “happy”. Continually he discusses the use of primate, which he thinks is most controversial. Here he makes the first quotation from the famous chimpanzee expert, Jane Goodall, to support his arguments and make the essay more convincing. Goodall describes the horrible conditions that the chimpanzees are enduring in laboratories.
“Is it all right to boil a sentient creature alive just for our gustatory pleasure?” (Wallace 4) This is a query posed by David Foster Wallace, an author of the renowned article ‘Considering the Lobster’ that was published by Gourmet Magazine. Wallace not only poses the question about the ethics of boiling a live animal but also points out the ethical issues to human beings who do not feel guilty when eating lobster and believe it is an inferior being. Furthermore, he conveys his own culinary experience about animals’ consciousness. He leads a debate whether lobsters can feel pain or not or whether or not they have same pain as people have. He uses vivid imagery, interesting facts and variety of ability to appeal
Not only does culling affect the sharks it also strikes the eco system of coral and reefs. Beach nets are placed in the water to protect
Aquatic environments are generally split into three categories; fresh water, marine (salt water) and estuarine (a combination of salt and fresh water). The organisms that live in each of these environments have specific adaptations that allow them to respond to changes in their surrounds. Fish generally prefer either fresh water or salt water and are unable to cope with a change from one to the other. For example the cells in fresh water fish are saltier than the surrounding water, so due to osmosis (the diffusion of water through a semi-permeable membrane) water is constantly flowing into its body. For this reason fresh water fish require very efficient kidneys to remove all of the extra water, and methods of maintaining and collecting the salt lost through urination.
The by-catch and pollution must also be monitored. There have been positive results from this new management overall, though many salmon populations as well as other marine populations continue to be in decline. It is important that we as consumers choose fish products from sustainable fisheries and understand what this means for marine environments. If salmon continue to be fished and farmed in ways that are damaging to the environment, collapse of the entire industry may occur. This can cause unforeseen economic and ecologic problems that may be irreversible.
Today I went to the New England Aquarium for an amazing lecture: Protecting the Ocean’s Giants: The Future of Manta Ray Conservation. Our lecturer was Joshua Stewart. He introduced what is a manta ray, what is wrong with Manta Ray, and why should we protect them, and so on. After his fantastic presentation, I had a better understanding of the marine animal Manta Ray. Every time when I see or hear the word “ray”, I am thinking of stingray, which has poisonous stings on their tails.
Despite the squeamish reactions of some classmates, frog dissection has many benefits. Amid the scissors, specimens, and unforgettable foul aroma of the lab we discovered specific lessons that extend beyond basic biology. The most obvious value revolves around the tactile experience, but we also learn respect for life and proper dissection skills that will be helpful in higher level lab classes. Most animals used in dissection(including amphibians, birds, snakes, turtles, fish and invertebrates) are taken from the wild, even though many have been declining in population. Demand for Dissection Specimens Increases Pressure on Threatened Species Researchers from the World Conservation Union reported in 2004 that a third of all amphibian species around the globe, including frogs, were threatened with extinction.
What I find peculiar about the bull shark is its ability to live in both marine habitats and freshwater habitats. In general, being able to survive in both habitats is very uncommon for sharks. Aquatic organisms rely heavily on a process called osmoregulation that allows them to achieve homeostasis of water content within their body. Without going into too much detail on the specifics of osmosis and osmotic pressure, this process allows the organism to keep their internal fluids from getting too diluted or too concentrated. So you may be asking yourself, how does this apply to the bull shark?