Marine Conservation.
Guest Speaker: Ms Kelly Ong from underwater world
The three marine animals that will be harmed by global warming
mentioned by Ms Kelly Ong are Polar bears, Penguin and Marine
Turtles.
Polar Bears
Polar bears, a semi-aquatic marine animal, are one of the many
animals that will be the victim of global warming. The death of
Polar bears has shed us light on what happened to them. The field
scientists from the Antarctica have reporting this
never-been-seen-before phenomenon on polar bears. The bears are
literally swimming for catch their preys.
Bear used to hunt their prey near the edge of the ice, but today
they will have to swim in order to catch their. Due to the rapid
rate of ice cap melting today, polar bears are having a lack of
hunting ground. Because of that, bears are getting thinner and
thinner.
As we know polar bears fur is design for adaptation of the cold
weather, it was not design for heat insulting at below zero degree
Celsius cold water. Nowadays polar bears are facing a huge crisis
for drowning.
The general rise of temperature on Earth due to global warming have
caused ice cap and sheet to melt, which means polar bears have less
hunting ground to catch their prey.
Penguin
In the recent years, penguin populations have they population
decrease linked to climate change. As global warming affects the
Earth, it affects the cold regions too. The warmer air and sea
temperature have caused the shrinking level of ice. This results in
lack of food source for the penguin that feed on the krill.
In addition, of that, the shrinking of sea ice has also caused a
decrease in both krill and algae population. Krill feeds on algae
that found on the sea ice.
This are the main concerning reason that could explain why the
decrease in penguin overall population.
Marine Turtle
The global warming has caused an increase in the temperature that
caused the ice cap and ice sheets to melt resulting in an increase
of sea level each year. The increase of sea level will destroy
low-lying beaches. This will result in less nesting areas of the
turtle to lay their eggs and hence affect the population of the
marine turtle.
Global warming also affects the ultimate male to female ration
because of the temperature. As what I have elaborate in question
two, there are strong link between effects of global warming to the
marine turtle population.
Temperature has a direct effect on marine turtle population.
Marine turtles actually have many offspring but on contrary, they
have very little survivors. As what Ms Kelly Ong has told us, the
temperature can determine the sex of the marine turtles. A cooler
temperature produces male turtles while a warmer temperature
produces female turtles.
The impact of global warming have caused a general increase of
temperature, which means that there will be more females turtles
because of the warmer temperature condition.
When there are more females, it seriously affected the male to
female ratios. When there are many female turtles and are lack of
male turtles in the ecosystem, the population of marine turtle will
be severely affected because there will not be enough male turtle
for reproduction.
Ocean acidification
It is the decrease of pH of the Earth's Ocean. At the rate of
current carbon dioxide emission, there will be an adverse impact to
the ocean environment.
When carbon dioxide dissolves in water, it forms a carbonic acid.
It causes a change in ocean pH balance. The ocean pH will be
decrease due to the increasing amount of carbonic acid in
ocean.
A decrease of pH in ocean would means coral reef, plankton and
organism whose skeleton made of calcium carbonate may be
particularly affected. This threatens to endanger the lives of
marine organisms, suffering from the effects of increase in acidity
in the ocean.
Coral bleaching
It is the loss of color of the coral due to the loss of
Zooxanthellae in the algae found the tissues. Zooxanthellae or
called zook give the coral its particular coloration. When under
stress the corals will expel Zooxanthellae, which will lead to
lighter or completely white appearance.
Global warming which cause the temperature of the water to increase
can be one of the factors causing stress to the coral. When there
is a reduced amount of zooplankton due to over fishing, it will
result in starvation of corals.
It has huge impact on the marine food chain because many survivors
of marine lives depend on the plankton that is at the bottom of the
food chain. Food chain is a link, when the bottom ones get affect;
it will also affect the ones from the top.
Career as a Marine Biologist
The job scope for a marine biologist in underwater world will
include daily husbandry and provide fish diet and treatment. Marine
biologist will be also be doing research, design for exhibits, and
organize breeding programs. As a marine biologist, they are also
required to conduct dive programs.
In order to become a marine biologist with the underwater world,
one needs to hold at least a Degree in veterinary, marine biology
or a bio-related course. He or she must be also dive certified and
physically fit. One must also have knowledge in basic water
chemistry. Having prior knowledge in aquarium keeping animal
husbandry will give applicants an edge when they apply for this
post. The most important thing is to have aptitude passion for
fishes and marine mammals.