The Abalone

Whether it is an animal you can easily look at and admire or whether it is an animal inside a shell they are all needed and deserve to be protected.  The white abalone should never have been caught and sold at such a rate that it is now endangered.  The word endangered creates concern no matter what animal or creature I am reading about.  The abalone is a mollusk and mollusks are important in ecological communities.   The white and black abalone are both listed as endangered and attention needs to be given.  I am glad that innovative work is being done to reduce poaching.  Any animal even as small as a snail has an important function.  I was so interested to learn about the mollusks having a foot which is useful and strong.  The foot helps them to navigate through water and to attach to rocks.  I hope the interest in these unique creatures and knowing of their ecological importance is motive to be concerned and do something to help in conservation efforts.

 The Continental Shelf

I was surprised in many ways and dismayed at how the continental shelf has even been a source of anything negative. The continental shelf is so important and I know that whales and sea turtles can sometimes be seen in the shelf areas as they follow migration routes.  This makes me wonder about stranding.  But that is not what I have read and so I don’t know what all has happened.  There was a time pollution and overfishing devastated some animals to near extinction.  I am glad that people have made measures to correct damages but I still think this is something important to keep in mind as we go along because it is so basic.  Mostly shallow water has been the site of so much study and monitoring and even serious problems.  We all need to know what is going on and if it has happened before we can and should always remember not to let the terrible problems happen again.  The continental shelf is the first place at which someone would stop in if they were to take a trip through the oceanic basin and because serious problems devasted some animals to near extinction I feel it is very important to think about.  I would like devastation to these animals never happen again anywhere.