12 Marine Animals Back From The Brink

12 Marine Animals Back From The Brink — page 1 — GREEN SEA TURTLES NEARLY VANISH OFF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS Green sea turtles have been on For decades Hawaiians liked to hunt the sea turtles People ate steaks Earth for 245 million years That means they have been around since before the dinosaurs became made of their meat They stirred their fat into soups and turned their skin into gloves extinct They are one of the largest sea turtle species in the world As hunters were catching more and more sea turtles scientists became These sturdy animals can live more than 80 years in the wild But over hunting almost killed them all concerned Green sea turtles reproduce slowly They only visit the nesting grounds once every three to Green sea turtles come ashore to lay

12 Marine Animals Back From The Brink — page 2 — IUCN RED LIST The International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN keeps a list of all threatened species in the world called the Red List Each species is labeled according to how at risk it is Least Concern Not considered at risk Near Threatened At risk of being vulnerable or endangered in the future Vulnerable At risk of extinction Endangered At high risk of extinction Critically Endangered At extremely high risk of extinction Extinct in the Wild Only lives in captivity Extinct No members of a species are left The US Fish and Wildlife Service 500 Maximum weight in pounds 227 kg of a green sea turtle sprang into action It listed the species as threatened It became illegal to kill green sea turtles The turtles started to make a slow Status least concern comeback The population has been Population 800 nesting females in Hawaii Home Hawaii Life Span 60 70 years increasing for 25 years In recent years more than 800 females have nested on the Hawaiian Islands four years One concerned scientist decided to start tracking them In 1973 he counted just 67 nesting females Not enough turtles were hatching to make up for those being hunted If hunting continued the green sea turtles would be gone from Hawaii Sea turtles stay warm by swimming close to the surface of the

12 Marine Animals Back From The Brink — page 3 — SOUTHERN SEA OTTER MAKES A SURPRISE COMEBACK Sea otters spend most of their time people made out of sea otter fur in water When they're not swimming used to be very popular So many or fishing they float on their backs people wanted these coats that They wrap their bodies in sea plants hunters killed many sea otters This keeps them from drifting away The sea otters were close to while resting The otters thick fur becoming extinct keeps them warm in the cold water As many as 16 000 southern sea Sea otters fur is very soft It repels otters used to live in California It water well too The warm coats appeared they were all gone by the early 1900s For a while people thought there were no southern sea otters left in California They were surprised to find approximately 50 southern sea otters there in 1938 By then hunting sea otters had been banned After eating sea otters wash Southern sea themselves in otter numbers sea water in California climbed to more than 3

12 Marine Animals Back From The Brink — page 4 — 25 STAYING WARM Percent of its body weight a southern sea otter must eat every day to make up for the energy it burns to keep warm Sea otters have up to 1 million hairs per square inch 6 45 sq cm Compare that to the 100 000 hairs on your entire head They also keep warm by tumbling in water This traps air bubbles in their fur The bubbles help keep in warmth Status Endangered Population Approximately 3 000 Home California Life Span 10 20 years Sea otters eat clams They use rocks to break open the

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