Biology Performing

On September 21, 2010, in a news article in Times Magazine, “The Mystery of the Vanishing Sea Otters,” written by Matt Kettman, it is brought to light that sea otters are endangered. The reason for the sea otter endangerment was first discovered in the late 1970’s to the early 1900’s. It was estimated that the population of sea otters ranged from 150,000-300,000. However, this number fell short over half a decade as an estimated 2,500 sea otters are only left in the world. Tim Tinker, a U.S geological survey researcher has concluded, “All the research we have done to date suggests that there’s no one single mortality rate.” This indicates that there is more than one factor to the sea otters’ endangerment. The causes of their species’ endangerment include natural causes such as food shortages, low genetic diversity, parasites, shark attacks, pesticides, and certain human destructive behavior such as the oil spill running along the coast of Santa Barbara and San Mateo County. Otters tend to only stay in groups, or in one location, and this may be a possible cause of the current issue. The situation remains in the hands of the Sea Otter Organization, where there is a prominent concern for many sea otters because of their declining mortality rate. My reaction to this article is that their endangerment is incredibly jaw dropping. Before reading this article, I did not have one clue that sea otters have been endangered for quite awhile now. The fact that the population of sea otters used to range from 150,000-300,000 and has now decreased to 2,500 is awful. It shows that our environment is in great danger, especially to our fellow sea creatures. Though there is still ongoing research, the problem isn’t going anywhere unless one takes action to develop a better plan. Scientists have tried to relocate sea otters, but it is disastrous due to the fact that it conflicts human operations with sea otter territories. It is very important for us to take action now, because these...