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| Steller Sea Lion Eating Fish [2] |
Currently, there are many different efforts to maintain and protect the Steller Sea Lion populations. To help protect their habitat, protective zones and harvest limits have been implemented in the United States, Russia, and Japan. In 1993, critical habitat was designated for the Steller sea lion under the Endangered Species Act. This includes fishing boats which reduced the chance of interaction between fishermen and sea lions near breeding grounds.
On the other hand, hunters assumed to be fisherman have been killing sea lions possibly to reduce competition for fish. They have even been known to decapitate them and leave the headless bodies. It is strictly prohibited to kill Sea Lions in the US.
Biologists are torn in some cases where the sea lions are eating salmon that are endangered or threatened. To prevent them from eating these fish, agencies usually use rubber bullets or loud noises to scare them away.
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| Researchers Branding Steller Sea Lions [3] |
Steller Sea Lion research has been funded substantially in the hopes of finding out more about why the Western Population declined and how we can help restore the species. Areas of research include ecology, movements, behavior, population dynamics, and genetics. While there are no conclusive answers, the overall growth rate for the Western Population has become positive. That shows that at least some of the conservation effort has paid off.
There are a few opportunities for people to help.
A great way to help is by donating to organizations dedicated to researching the Steller sea lions such as the Marinebio Conservation Society.
Another way is to go out in the field and help such as the volunteers to the left. Many volunteers are needed when tagging or branding is required to help monitor the sea lions.
I like the organization of your pages.. the headings make it easier to read. It might be good to add some more information on the "endangered" sub section.. you've provided the number of sea lions, but no information on what a viable number is, how the sex ratio plays into that, etc. Probably good to elaborate on those things a bit.
ReplyDeleteI like this page. It is easy to follow. Is there a graph you could include to show the growth rate for the sea lions to show the increase you talk about?
ReplyDeleteI think there is a good framework for the information on this page. Maybe elaborate a little more under each subject heading.
ReplyDeleteI think you could make a map in MS paint or something to maybe show the specific location of conserved areas. It also doesn't look like youve used a lot of primary literature up to this point.
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