Sadly, many creatures are at risk of extinction, but we may be able to help. Here are some of them and some facts about them.
Vulnerable:
Name: Atlantic Cod (Gadus Morhua)
It’s popularity for being on a dinner plate led to the vulnerability of this delicious fish. Several stocks deflated in the 1990s because of overfishing. Their population hasn’t fully recovered yet.
Name: Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus Cristatus)
It’s the only type of sea-going lizard in the world, and it lives in the Galapagos Islands, where its predators are dogs and cats brought by settlers. I have no problems with pets, but keep an eye on them.
Name: Rainbow Parrotfish (Scarus Guacamaia)
Since its mangrove nursery habitat is being destroyed, this beautiful beaked reef resident has less safe places for its babies. Other than that, some threats are overfishing, pollution, and coastal development.
Name: Common Seahorse (Hippocampus Kuda)
It seems that its name is misleading, as its vulnerability is caused by being caught to be put in aquariums and sold. It also is caught for use in medicines.
Name: Great White Shark (Carcharodon Carcharias)
Even though it is the scariest shark in the sea, this feared fish is not as invulnerable as you might think. It is a hunted by game fishermen and commercial fishers because of its fearsome reputation, not for food, who catch it for fins, teeth, and jaws.
Endangered:
Name: Blue Whale (Balaenoptera Musculus)
The Blue Whale is the biggest animal on the Earth, it was almost hunted to extinction in the first half of the 20th century, it is estimated that there are less than 5,000 Blue Whales left even though it started to be protected since the 1960s.
Name: Sea Otter (Enhydra Lutris)
In their ecosystem, Sea Otters are an important keystone species. They eat sea urchins, that, if they had the chance, would eat all of the kelp forests that act as homes and food for many other species.
Critically Endangered:
Name: Coelacanth (Latimeria Chalumnae)
It was once thought to be extinct, a Coelacanth was caught off the Comoros Islands in 1938 led to a hunt for this ‘living fossil’. Another species of Coelacanth has been found living near Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Name: Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys Imbricata)
Turtles have slow reproduction rates, which makes them vulnerable. They also are hunted for turtle meat and for their beautiful, decorative shell.
Data Unknown:
Name: Tucuxi (Sotalia Fluviatilis)
Tucuxi is a river dolphin that is found in coastal waters and estuaries (bodies of water found where rivers end) around northern South America. These small dolphins are at a increasing risk from fishing nets, tourist boats, and river pollution.
What could we do?
We could ask for a breeding program to help preserve our worlds animals, before we lose them forever.
Source:
Everything you need to know about sharks and other creatures of the deep By DK Penguin Random House.
