Whales College Essays Samples For Students

Introduction

Whales pose as important components of the world’s marine ecosystem (NRDC, n.d.). Those stand among the most fascinating mammals; they manifest intelligence akin to that of human intellectual capacity such as linguistic communication, with their distinctive nervous system features credited for such (D’Amato and Chopra, 2010, p.1). Nevertheless, whales face threats to their existence due to incessant hunting activities. While the International Whaling Commission (IWC) sought to ban whaling activities in 1986, countries such as Japan and Iceland have refused to abide due to their own reasons (NRDC, n.d.). Japan ...

Summary

Bilal Haq, a scientist from the National Science Foundation Arlingtion, Virginia encountered foraminifera on his trip to Qingdao in China. Foraminifera are small creatures that grow shells on their bodies. Their shells are varied and very diverse, as if they are created by visionary artists. Haq thought the foraminifera would make beautiful pieces of art and should be put on display. Haq’s fellow colleague from China, Zheng, agreed and put things into action by involving local craft workers. It resulted in a park for foraminifera since the end of 2009 and already a million people have visited (Larkins, 2012).

It is ...

Sonar stands for Sound for Navigation and Ranging. It is a technique used in navigation to detect objects underwater. Active sonar is a technique which utilizes sound to locate underwater objects as wells marine animals like whales and fish. The devices that apply the sonar technique are used by marine vessels controlled by the military and other marine users. When marine objects produce sound, the sonar device emits a signal as well as collects echoes from them. This technique imitates the behavior of marine animals while detecting food and enemies among other functions for example the right whales. After the sonar gadget ...

Oceans and seas seem to be safe from over-exploitation of man. However, research proves that the above statement is not true. I want to argue that the marine ecosystem is not safe from man’s abuse of its resources which leads to the decline of marine mammals such as whales, and dolphins. Whaling is a highly controversial issue amongst the animal rights movements. Because of the decline in the number of marine mammals, whaling is a barbaric deed that must not be tolerated. Marine mammals such as whales are certainly in the brink of extinction (Climate Institute.org, 2014). Commercial whalers and ...

Whilst the cumulative effects of global warming are as yet uncertain, what is known is that global warming will affect most of the species living on planet Earth, including cetaceans. Cetaceans are whales, dolphins and porpoises, and they inhabit most of the world’s oceans and some freshwater rivers and lakes in the equatorial zone. Evidence gathered over the last twenty to thirty years has shown that changes in the cetaceans’ habitat will impact on their range, behavior and sustainability. If the species is to survive, they must adapt to climate change. The following is a discussion of how ...

After reading the three articles that are featured in the following pages, it is evident that whales originated from a species of terrestrial mammals and that during the process of evolution that began in early Eocene it has lost some of the features of terrestrial mammals and grow features that made it fully adopt to an aquatic habitat.
Thewissen, J.G.M. and Lisa Cooper, John George, Sunil Bajpai. “From Land to Water: the Origin of Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises.” Evolution: Education and Outreach 2.135 (2009). Springer International Publishing, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12052-009-0135-2/fulltext.html.
Thewissen et al’s article traces the ancestry of the ...

THE SCOPES TRIAL

The scopes trial is also famously known as the scopes monkey trial and was a trial which involved the state of Tennessee against John Thomas Scopes. The charge against scopes was teaching evolution. Apparently back in 1925 it was illegal to teach anything about evolution in schools that were funded by the state. Back then people believed in the divinity of the bible. Anything in the bible was considered truth that was incontestable by any human being irrespective of the evidence at hand. Teaching evolution was tantamount to blasphemy against morally accepted truths by the people. The Buttler act made ...

The movie Blackfish is an epitome of whales in captivity . It illumined viewers of the documentary film of the plight of whales, particularly orcas or killer whales, which are captured for the sole purpose of providing aquatic entertainment through famous marine mammal parks, like SeaWorld. Statistics provided by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) revealed that there are 54 orcas currently in captivity in a global scale . Viewers are given the opportunity to see the perspective from the view point of these whales in captivity through asserting the traumatic isolation, restrictions, and impositions inflicted on them as trainers worked tediously ...

Question 1: Echinoderms

Phylum Echinodemata gets the name from the Greek which means spiny skin. Therefore, members of this phylum have spiny skin although others do not have the spiny skin. Echinoderms have radial symmetry meaning they have appendages mostly occurring in a group of five with few in exception. One rare characteristic that occurs in the echinoderms is the water vascular system. This refers to a hydraulic system, usually with sea urchins and the sea stars and used for locomotion, waste transportation, food and respiration. This system comprises of canals that connect tube feet. The movement can be caused by the contraction of ...

Caring for Whales: Outline

Introduction: Our oceans once brimming with sea life, have been greatly impacted with man’s presence. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the decline of our ocean’s cetacean population. The dire struggle faced by world’s whale populations has often been a closely guarded secret. The desire to profit from commercial whaling has led to legal and ethical loop holes within many of the world’s governments. Until issues surrounding whaling are resolved, the world’s whale populations still linger in the shadow of extinction.
Thesis: The conservation of whales and other cetaceans remains an important issue ...

Thesis Statement: The film illustrated how greed and blood lust of the people can lead to a bitter end after several African Americans became victims of exploited labor force which is in the simplest form of slavery employed by the Native Americans, who took advantage of their ignorance during the 18th century.
1.) The block quotation that was chosen and was compressed in the film which and should have been more highlighted is the line, “As the price of whale oil continued to rise, while the economy of the other countries continued to suffer due to economic depression, Nantucket ...

The majority of scientists are in agreement that global warming is occurring and is caused by human activities over the last two hundred years or so. Global warming is caused by the build up in the atmosphere of gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and others which have been created by the burning of fossil fuels in order to produce electricity, and for use in industries and motor vehicles. Another contribution to global is the removal of vast areas of natural forest from the planet. . The majority of carbon dioxide exchange between the atmosphere and the earth ...

With reference to Biological studies, homology is the presence of shared pedigree between living organisms in terms of evolution. The homology might be in terms of genetical constitution, or physical constitution, to name a few. Here, I have described the evolutionary homology between various phyla supporting the description with a phylogenetic tree.

Genetic code is the combination of DNA and RNA sequences that constitute the amino acid sequences used in the synthesis of an organism's proteins. It is the biochemical basis of heredity and generally, protein coding amino acids is very similar in all eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The principle differences occur ...

Introduction

The study explored the homological characteristics of 22 species. The organisms were human, pygmy chimpanzee, common chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, white-handed gibbon, macaque (Cercopithecine monkey), horse, bison, cat, dog, bird, bat, frog, rattlesnake, alligator, fish, whale, wolf, pig, bacteria, and cow. The species were categorized as mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, or amphibians. However, humans and apes were further classified as primates. Moreover, the research sought to determine whether the species share characteristics that link them to a common ancestor. The research hypothesis was that if the evolutionary path of the 22 organisms were traced, then a common ancestor would be observed.

Universal Genetic Code

The ...

Moby-Dick; or The Whale by Herman Melville tells a story of Captain Ahab's voyage who is in pursuit of a great white whale. Stubb, Flask and Starbuck are three mates of Pequod; they are in pursuit of a whale as they seek to revenge following the order given by Ahab the captain. This paper will focus on Flask and Starbuck, considering that the two have differing personalities and attitudes apparent from the story, this paper will essentially compare the two characters: their attitudes and actions.
Stubb the first mate of Pequot is portrayed to be a person who approaches any situation as ...

Charles Darwin published his masterpiece detailing his theory of evolution by natural selection, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life in 1859. Despite the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community, there are still loud and politically active Creationists that insist that the earth is less than 10,000 years old because the Bible says so. However, the Bible never actually states how old the universe or the earth is. Belief that there is a Creator and in the theory of evolution are compatible for followers of ...

Marine life is core of marine biology where a study on taxonomy, biology, behavior, morphology, and ecological relationships of life inhabiting our oceans, seas, and lakes is on research. It is also the study of science of organisms in marine or ocean waters. Taxonomy of marine life is in groups that follow a certain order in a hierarchical series namely: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Marine life is having six kingdoms as follows. First, bacteria-are organisms that have single-cells and reproduce by dividing in two. They are throughout the marine setting. Second, protozoans-are also single-celled organisms but are much ...

The basic purpose of the work was to understand the concept of whaling and its implication in the modern world. I had to examine and understand the concept of whaling. For this I had to do extensive research. I read a lot of material. I had to take a look at the historical background of whaling. It was amazing to know that human’s have been whaling for thousands of years. I had to examine what are benefits of whaling. I had to understand why people are interested in whaling. I tried to examine the reasons as to why the humans ...

The film Blackfish by Gabriela Cowper Thwaite, released in 2013, focused on a captive Orcas by SeaWorld. When the Orcas got separated from her family at the age of 2 years, he was rehabilitated by SeaWorld. The confinement of the Whale which was later named Tilikum for over 20 years caused the Orcas immense frustration causing the whale to kill over 3 human trainers (Brower). I believe that these animals have been denied the will to exist naturally in their environment. They are confined and denied of provisions that are paramount to their well-being such as movement by being ...

Poison Waters

What are the implications of this dilemma for human growth and development?
This dilemma of water pollution has a great effect on human growth and development. As it has been seen in the video, Puget Sound is said to be in intensive care unit. This is because the water has significantly been polluted. A testimony to this is the population of killer whales or the orcas. These whales are a good example because they predate on other fish thus they absorb chemicals or other compounds from other marine organisms that they predate on (Rick, 2009). The whales are dying ...

Frankenstein is a fictional story written by Mary Shelly. It was later adapted into a movie version, which was directed by James Whales. There are more differences than similarities between the book and the movie. This is because; the movie is mainly based on the 1920’s play, other than the original Mary Shelly’s book Frankenstein. A text has to be altered in one way or the other while making a movie due to a number of obvious factors. A lot of details from the book were missing in the movie, but the changes made by Whales were effective as they made ...

Introduction

Our knowledge of ocean life is limited to big fishes and salty water. However, with new discoveries it is now evident that ocean life is mainly kept in balance by microorganisms. Billions of micro, nano and singular celled organisms called planktons are the primary producers of the marine fish web. Any living being in order to survive needs energy in the form of food and on earth the sole supplier of energy is the Sun. Be it ocean food chain or terrestrial food chain it always start with the sun. In case of terrestrial chains plants and weeds are ...

SeaWorld Adventure Parks (SeaWorld) is a chain of oceanariums, marine mammal parks and animal theme parks in the United States. The first SeaWorld Park was opened in San Diego in 1964 and since then, more than 100 million people have visited the famous parks (Malloy). SeaWorld currently operates parks in California, Orlando, San Antonio, Texas and Florida in United States with the three main parks located in San Diego, Orlando and San Antonio.

The experience of being at SeaWorld is breathtaking. Gigantic water-filled tanks, the numerous monstrous sea mammals, spectacular underground exhibitions and the constant water splashing conjure feelings of ...

Introduction

An ecosystem is defined as the interaction of the organism and other nonliving factors in a certain community. The living components of an ecosystem, such as plants, animals, and other organisms, can be classified as the biotic component of the ecosystem, whereas the environmental conditions such as water amount, humidity, soil nourishment, temperature, and the like are termed as the abiotic factors. In an ecosystem, both the existing biotic and abiotic factors determine what kind of species live there. For example, turtles, which require a large amount of water to live in cannot possibly hope to survive in arid ...

The fish family includes sharks, whales, hagfish, and lungfish among others. Fish are water vertebrates and can exist in both fresh water and salt water depending on their adaptability. All fish are aquatic, and they survive by breathing oxygen that is dissolved in water. The two primary groups of fish include bony fish and cartilaginous fish. The aquatic habitat and environment are what determine the ecological structure of the fish. The entire system in which the fish lives is what is referred to as the fish ecology. Fish thrive well on sea nutrients, which are found at the bottom ...

Common property resources are those resources which have property rights that are enforced collectively by members of a group or organization. Usually, the increased use of the resources by one individual led to a decrease of resources available for other individuals to consume. Ocean resources include; marine life such as fish and whales, open sea used for traveling and fishing, minerals found in the ocean such as oil, gas, sand among others. This paper will briefly describe the tragedy of commons as indicated in Hardin. It will also use Seabright to clarify how the rights of the common property ...

- At the equilibrium quantity how much annual revenue do the producers receive?
20 $ per crate of oranges
- If the government imposes a price floor of $30 per crate how much revenue will producers now receive?
(80 million crates x30 $) = 2,400 $ million
- Discuss whether producers are necessarily better off.
The producers are not better off because when the prices for the oranges is low, many customers demand for them and this would result to extreme losses. On the other hand, when the price for the oranges is high, few customers are capable ...

Leisure and recreation is one of the most important aspects to consider especially if one is caught up in duties in workplace. Taking a time out from the normal activities to relax one’s mind, play, and unite with friends and family members’ is one of the most important psychological therapies around the globe. Recreation brings about emotional comfort and self-satisfaction, and a feeling of well being (McLean, 2014). Living in Los Angeles, California, Sana Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is one of the preferable places for leisure and recreation -away from the hustles and bustles of the day. We visited ...

Tourism is one of the most productive economic activities that earn several countries all over the world foreign and domestic income. There are many types of tourism. The type of tourism is determined by the kind of issues focused on and the expected outcomes out of the tourism activities. There are 6 major types of tourism; adventure, luxury, independent, organized or group and eco tourism. These forms of tourism have different benefits to the host country. Therefore, a country chooses to practice a type of tourism that would best suit its objectives and bring maximum benefits. There are two best examples ...

a) What are the leading primary producers and top consumers in the ecosystem you researched?
The research was carried out in the Antarctic marine ecosystem, under this ecosystem and within the food web, the leading producer is phyplankton which produces food for all kinds of animal from small to lager ones. The top consumer in this ecosystem are grazers mainly the zoophylankton and some fish. Generally Antarctic animals make their living in the ocean because the land is to cold and dry commonly known as physical factors.
b) Using the energy pyramid concept (Figure 3.16 in the textbook is a ...