Many different kinds of fish live in the reefs as their haven for feeding, reproduction, and safety from predators. Without an ecosystem to live in, these fish species will become extinct. Ten percent of the world's reefs have been completely destroyed. Coral reef destruction is the worst, over 70% have been destroyed and only 5% can be said to be in good condition. What has happened to destroy so many reefs?
Drowning in Plastic It’s hard to imagine life without plastic. It’s everywhere: covering our food, holding our purchases, protecting our loved ones, saving patients in hospitals and floating along our waterways and oceans. The thought of living in a world surrounded by toxic chemicals and pollution is a thought which many would rather not think about. Plastics have revolutionised the world in which we live, but with dire consequences. The production of these toxic-filled substances continues to lead the human race on a path of natural destruction; with thousands of animal sea-life dying annually from plastic consumption.
There are five main things that affect the ocean and harm it, Whaling, overfishing, factory fishing, global warming, and pollution. Every year the Japanese government kills mink whales. They kill at least eight hundred fifty of these whales. Factory fishing is also a major harm to the ocean. Factories create equipment that destroys species in the ocean.
Dr Euan Ritchie stated “When sharks were culled in Hawaii there was no long-term benefit because sharks attacks occurred immediately after”. Why then, waste billions of taxpayers’ money on a solution that has previously shown it does not work? In South Africa, again, according to statistics from the KwaZulu-Natal Shark Board, “less than 18 per cent of marine life caught on drum lines in South Africa in the 2011 to 2012 financial year have been great white or tiger sharks” with animals mentioned in the above paragraph contributing to the other 78%. A large scale cull would be highly redundant then as Australia would be no different from Hawaii and South Africa. In New South Wales and Queensland “there have been severe shark attacks on beaches that are protected by nets”, highlighting how wrongly this issue is being
They claim that this has been going on for 30 years. PCB’s are very dangerous. It is said that some of the fish were deformed or adnomoral. PCB's can be very harmful to humans, especially pregnant woman. If pregnant woman eat a large amount of contaminated fish from the Hudson River their children are more likely to be born with birth defects.
It would interfere with millions of migratory birds that feed on its tundra plains. It would kill plants and animals that are native to the Beaufort Sea area and the environment would take two decades to recover. If there were a major oil spill, it would decades for the ecosystem to recover, since so many organisms would be contaminated and eventually die. Remember the 1989 catastrophe when the Exxon Valdez spilled 35 million gallons into Prince William Sound? The
The populations are becoming so hard to find that fisheries are now catching the fish in estuaries, a place where the juveniles grow. There is also no ban on fishing them during certain seasons. This leads to the capture of pregnant females, and of juveniles. The population has declined so much that many fisheries have gone out of business. The reason I don’t think that the consumption from predators is why the population is declining so rapidly is the fact that these predators have been hunting these fish for hundreds of years.
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.
The ocean dwellers are virtually helpless, and they will ultimately have to suffer the consequences that have been created mainly by humans. Over the past few years there has been a significant change in marine life. Coral reefs are becoming endangered due to high carbon dioxide levels and effects of warming. Large predators, small fish, and other organisms make their homes in coral reefs. A process called mass bleaching has also become a danger to coral reefs.
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. Although habitat loss, pollution and climate changes are the primary causes, demand for dissection specimens only makes matters worse. Analysts estimate that as many as six million wild frogs are destroyed each year in the U.S. alone for dissection! (Couldn’t find Canadian Information) Frog dissection has many benefits, including specific lessons that extended basic biology. It has its negative side with the declining population but it also has a very good experience for the human race’s