Endangered Species | Incredible Aquatic Species

Some Endangered Species

There are some animals and species that are getting reduced to dangerously low numbers thus putting them on the verge of becoming extinct. Here is a look at some endangered species.

The mountain gorilla is one animal that is considered an endangered species. There are two species of the mountain gorilla and recent reports show there are only about 790 of these animals left. These gorillas have longer and thicker furs therefore they have the ability to live in very cold climates. Adult males are called silverbacks and they are often twice the size of the females. The mountain gorilla often lives in a group of others and they are very defensive over their group. Some reasons why mountain gorillas are on the verge of becoming extinct are due to poaching and the fact that they are vulnerable to certain diseases.

Another species that is on the verge of becoming extinct is the Chinese alligator. This alligator that is only native to China is smaller than the other species of alligator. Another difference of these alligators is that they possess full armor even on their stomachs. It is estimated there is only around 200 left. A couple of reasons as to why there are so few left is due to the fact that their habitats are being taken and the fact that the rats they like to eat are often poisoned.

The giant panda is also on the brink of becoming extinct. This black and white bear that is native to China mainly consumes a diet of bamboo. The panda has recently been driven out of its home due to current developments, farming and deforestation. There is an estimated 240 pandas living in captivity with around thirty pandas outside of the country.

The Wonders of Starfish

The wonders of starfish have fascinated the minds of small children as long as they have been in existence. There are over two thousand different types of starfish today. Starfish are unique creatures in that they can completely regenerate themselves. If you cut a starfish in half you can have two completely new starfish!

Starfish typically feed when they have the opportunity. Some feed by specifically preying on their food, while others feed by filtering food out of the water. The starfish has a mouth that is on the bottom part of the fish, and each arm of a star fish has a tube that leads to the stomach.
Many starfish eat their food whole and allow the stomach to digest it. Others eat by forcing open clam shells and eating the softer insides of a clam by putting their stomach inside the clam shell. Because the starfish can eat food outside rather than inside the body it has the ability to prey on much larger fish. However, not all starfish eat fish, and some are herbivores.

Starfish have a number of different means for reproduction. Starfish can reproduce asexually when they are torn in half or a limb is cut off, eventually two new starfish are formed. Some starfish store fertilized eggs in their stomach until they become little starfish. Some starfish release eggs into the water where the male starfish fertilize the eggs. Others use a nest technique similar to birds. In any case, starfish are definitely versatile in their means of reproducing.

Some people use starfish to adorn different decorative spots, usually with a dried up, dead starfish. Starfish can live up to ten years if they are left without interference from predators. The starfish is quite an amazing creature, both for kids to play with and touch, and adults to fascinate themselves with.

Sharks Attack

: Image via Wikipedia

People who are accustomed to the coastal living are use to the idea of sharks by now. However, it is still quite a common fear to have among travelers. Of course, with this fear popularized by movies like Jaws, anyone could understand why. There are more than four hundred and forty kinds of sharks, with all sorts of different sizes and shapes. The dwarf lanternshark is only six inches in length, while there are sharks like the whale shark that can reach up to forty feet.

Smaller sharks feed on plankton and other small fish the same way sponges and sea stars do. Others hunt in packs and feed on large fish that hide in coral reefs. Some sharks will hunt so viciously that they tear apart the sea floor looking for food. Other sharks can smell food, specifically blood, from miles away. Sharks can live in both freshwater and seawater.

Sharks breathe the same way fish do: they have between five and seven slits in their skin called gills. Sharks also have a ton of teeth, some of which grow in several rows. Sharks are often considered the king of the hill in the food chain under the sea, because they are so fierce hunters and hardly discriminate on prey it is hard to think otherwise.

Surfers along the cost have to be double sure to take care when they are in the water, because sharks are so abundant that if someone gets hurt and does not take care of the wound quickly and get out of the water it can attract shark attacks. Some surfers have had their limbs severed because they did not pay enough attention and were not aware of the presence of the sharks. These creatures are both scary and fascinating, and people are lucky to come out of a shark attack.

What Is The Sea World?

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The Sea World is a unique amusement park that has a chain all over the world in various countries. There are many people who would have heard of and visited an amusement park or theme park. The Sea world is a theme park with a difference. This is one in which there are various kinds of sea animals present. Some of the varieties of animals that are seen in the Sea World can rarely be seen anywhere else because they are very rare.

The Sea world is also unique because it combines fun with studying about the nature. The fact that many people including the young are able to get very close to these animals will give them a chance to learn more about these animals. It will also give them an opportunity to start liking animals from a very young age. The aim of many of these Sea World theme parks is to get the people up close to one of the mysteries of nature, which is deep water.

There are many adventures that one can have on a visit to the Sea World. There are different kinds of rides that can be participated in. Other than the rides, any person who visits even one of these Sea World theme parks will have a fun time, that is also spent in learning about the habits and the habitats of these animals.

One of the stunning memories that any visitor to any Sea World theme park will return with is the encounter with the sharks. The person who visits the park is able to go through an acrylic tank that has the shark living on the other side of the tank. The person will be able to see the shark swimming in the water. The majestic view of the shark in the natural habitat leaves a lasting impression on any person who visits the tank.

Why Kids Love Sea World

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The whole idea about the Sea world is to provide a thrill to the kids. There are many kinds of animals that are present in the Sea world. These animals are a place of learning for the young child. The child is able to learn all about the animals. This is a great learning experience that will never be possible in any other place because sea animals are not usually seen in many other places.

The chance to get very close to the animals and in fact touch them in some instances will be able to strike a chord in the mind of the child and as the child grows up, this image is present there, where the animal was considered to be a source of inspiration for the growing person.

The kids also love the sea world because of the many joy rides and adventures that are available in the place. Kids are always kids and after enjoying the animals for a few hours, they would like to have fun with the animals. This is the reason that most of the sea world adventure parks are not only places where the sea animals are kept, but there are many roller coaster and other rides available for the public who reach there.

It is not only true that the kids enjoy sea world, but even the adults who accompany the kids are able to enjoy the rides and the sights. In fact the sea world is so famous that it is a must visit place for every tourist who visits the city where a sea world water and adventure theme park is present. As there are more sea world theme parks being planned, there is no dearth of enjoyment for the people who will be visiting these places. It is a unique method of attracting the young and the old alike and keeps them captivated.

Tips To Get A Discounted Ticket For Sea World

Many people visit the various Sea World theme parks each day. The cost of entering the Sea world can be quite high. If you are going to the Sea world as an extended family, then the entry can cause a pinch in the pockets. People are always on the lookout for tips and methods to save some money. If a person is trying to get a discount on the entry to the Sea World, then it is quite easy.

All that the person needing a discount needs to do is some research on the methods of getting a discount. The people who buy the entry tickets directly from the Sea World web site will get quite a large discount on the price for which you have to otherwise get the ticket.

There are many community forums and the tickets to the Sea World can be got from them too at a considerable discount. This has now become a very popular method of buying the tickets for the Sea world at a decreased cost. They have various coupons too. There are some who have codes of the coupons that can be redeemed for a ticket that will cost less, when you buy it online.

The simplest method in which a person will be able to get an entry ticket to the Sea world will be through one of the many travel agents. These are the people who buy a lot of tickets for their regular clients. As they buy tickets in bulk, they are given a discount. So, any person who wants a discounted ticket to enter the Sea World will be able to get them from these people. Any person who signs up for the Sea world e mail list for distribution, they will get discount coupons that can be used to buy the entry ticket for the Sea world at a very low cost.

Fun Facts About the Aquatic Species the Dolphin

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Dolphins are a fascinating aquatic species that is admired by both children and adults. If you wish to see a dolphin in person you can do so at parks such as Sea World. The dolphin has captured the interest of many because it is a beautiful and intelligent creature.

One of the reasons that people find dolphins so interesting is because they are considered to be very smart. A dolphin is a fast learner that can differentiate between many objects. Some scientists have compared the intelligence of a dolphin to that of a two year old child. Like a toddler a dolphin can understand some complicated commands and also some of the human language. Because a dolphin can understand this much information they are able to communicate with their trainers.

A dolphin has a very healthy appetite. This creature can eat between ten to twenty kilograms of food per day. Dolphins feel on a number of different fish and squid. The amount of fish that a dolphin eats per day will depend on the fat content of the fish. An example of this is that a herring is a very fatty fish. A dolphin will acquire a lot of energy from eating this fish. This means it will not need to eat as much of it. In comparison a squid has a much lower fat content. Dolphins will need to eat more squid in order to get the energy that they need from it.

These creatures have a long life expectancy. A dolphin will usually live for ten to fourteen years. However it is not unheard of for a dolphin to live up to fifty years.

The dolphin will always be a part of marine life that fascinates the mind of many. It is an attractive creature with many endearing characteristics.

The Intelligence Levels of Dolphins

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Many people believe that dolphins are an aquatic species that possesses great intelligence in the animal world. However scientists have been debating whether this is the case for many years.

In general scientists will not make firm conclusions on the intelligence levels of dolphins. Many scientists will admit that the dolphin does appear to be an intelligent aquatic species. But it has not been proven how smart a dolphin actually is.

One of the reasons that the research on dolphin intelligence is being held up is due to the fact it is very expensive to do research on dolphins that are in the wild. Also it is difficult to track these dolphins. Dolphins that are in captivity may give different results to the researchers. Researchers believe that dolphins that are in aquatic parks such as Sea World may not react the same way as wild dolphins due to their surroundings. This means that a captive dolphin is not a true representation of a dolphin in the wild.

Some scientists believe that a better way to measure the intelligence of this aquatic species is to take into consideration the size and complexity of it’s brain. If this theory is correct it means that dolphins do have a high level of intelligence. A dolphin’s brain is almost half the size of a human brain.

While the current research leads us to believe that the dolphin may be the animal that is closest to humans in terms of intelligence it will take some time to prove this. Until there is a way to research dolphins in the wild the capabilities of their brain will remain a mystery to us. However due to the fact that dolphins are able to interact with humans and be trained it is fair to say there is no doubt that the dolphin is a intuitive animal.

An Unusual Aquatic Species – The Pink Dolphin

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The pink dolphin resides in the Amazon River. Unfortunately it has been classed as an endangered species. This is a shame as this type of dolphin is both beautiful and smart. In fact it is considered to smarter than the blue dolphin. This dolphin has a brain size that is forty percent bigger than that of humans.

Many people are not aware that a pink dolphin even exists. This could be due to the fact that this aquatic species inhabits areas in South America. People have not explored the Amazon River as closely as other rivers, lakes and oceans. Because of this much of the marine life in the Amazon has not been studied to a great extent. The pink dolphin is not an aquatic species that you will be seeing at Sea World anytime soon.

Pink dolphins that reside in the Amazon are also called Boto, Bufeo, Boto Cor de Rosa, Tonina, Boutu, Nay or Bufeo Colorado. The flamingo gets its coloring from the food that it eats. This is not the case with this aquatic species. This type of dolphin is pink due to the fact that it has blood vessels lying very close to the surface of it’s skin.

The pink dolphin is very different to the blue dolphins that reside in the ocean. This dolphin has the ability to blush when it gets excited or maddened. They can also come in different shades of pink. This aquatic species is thought to be smarter than blue ocean dolphins. The biggest difference between the pink dolphin and the blue dolphin is that the pink river dolphin lacks a dorsal fin. Instead it looks like it has a hump on their back.

While this aquatic species is endangered at present there are many conservation groups working towards solving this problem.

A Guide to the Aquatic Species of Killer Whales

: Image by Franco Folini via Flickr

The orca is also known as a killer whale. As killer whales are so large in size the only threat to their future comes in the form of human beings. The killer whale is a predator that attacks many aquatic species. These creatures are dangerous and predatory. They are also considered to be majestic and beautiful by most people that view them.

Although many people call this aquatic species a whale it is actually a part of the dolphin family. Orcas are considered to be the biggest dolphins in existence. They have black skin that is broken up by white patches. Like dolphins the orca has a dorsal fin and big flippers.

One of the most interesting facts about this aquatic species is that they live in pods. These pods are small and generally contain six to forty killer whales. The whales in each pod stay with each other throughout their whole lives. They work together to perform tasks such as protecting the young, sick and injured members of their pod.

The members of the pod work alongside each other in order to hunt and catch their food.
The killer whale generally eats different types of fish, squid, whales, sharks, seals, turtles, sea gulls, octopus, and penguin. The average killer whale eats over five hundred pounds of food every day. Orcas will not migrate but they do travel a long way if they want to catch prey.

The killer whale can be found in both tropical and artic waters. Many people travel a long way to see this type of marine life up close and personal. Others can visit orcas in captivity at places like Sea World. Captive orcas put on a great show as they are intelligent and easy to train. They are a very popular attraction for tourists.