Predators.... the Orca whale.....
| THAT'S WHY THEY'RE CALLED KILLER WHALES: Marine biologists are reporting that orcas are taking a "heavy toll" on sea otters in the Aleutian Islands, where otter numbers "have dropped 70% since 1992 and at least 95% since the 1980s" says MSNBC 10/10. The scientists speculate that the orcas have turned to the sea otters "because their normal prey sea lions and fur seals are in short supply." Steller sea lions have also declined 80% since the 1980s and experts believe there is a "massive ecological shift in the North Pacific and Bering Sea" in the kinds of fish available due to "expanding fisheries, increases in ocean temperatures and a depletion of large whales." |
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KILL
AND BE KILLED: "A petition to add orcas in the Pacific Northwest
to the Endangered Species List is expected to be submitted "later
this month by a coalition of scientists and environmentalists" says
MSNBC/AP 10/6. Of special concern is one of three populations, the
southern residents whose numbers have declined from 98 five years
ago to 82 with eight dying "last year alone." Scientists believe
that pollutants, especially from Superfund toxic waste sites and
the decline of salmon runs "due to habitat loss and overfishing"
are to blame. "Some studies estimate that the fish make up 90% of
their diet."
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