Ocewhale

Imagine that you have gone whale watching for twenty years around the globe. You have seen many different species of whales on many different occasions. Right now, you are on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean off of the United States. A whale that you have never seen before suddenly appears right in front of you. This is the North Atlantic Right Whale and there are only about 300-350 left in the world. It is the most endangered whale found off the coast. I want to find out and research **why there are so few of them left, and if there is anything being done to help them.** I was interested in this topic because I went whale watching this past summer in the [|Bay of Fundy,] Nova Scotia. Right whales are more commonly found here than in other areas, but I still didn't see one.
 * __//The North Atlantic Right Whale//__**

General Information: The right whale earned its name during the days of the whaling in the 1800's. It was considered by whalers the "right whale" to kill because it has so much oily fat which was used as fuel in those days. There was so much fat, that the whale would not sink when it died and it would stay afloat. This made it a lot easier to retrieve and bring back to the ship. It is also a slow swimmer (a steady 6 miles per hour) and easy to track down and harpoon. The right whale was also known as The Black Whale, The Great Whale, and The True Whale during whaling times. The whale has a few distant cousins, and all of them are endangered. This includes the North Pacific Right Whale (200), The Southern Right Whale (7,500), and the Bowhead Whale (8,500).

Identifying a Right Whale: The flukes (tail) of a right whale are very dark, smooth, and broad. There is a very distinct notch in the fluke and the ends have a pointed tip. There is no dorsal fin on its back. It has baleen bristles and two blowholes that are widely separated. This leads to the unmistakable v-shaped blow (above, right). The right whale has large clumps on its head called callosities. These are roughened patches of skin. It has a very sharply curved mouth line going down below its eye. The right whale can grow up to 57 feet long and can weigh up to 90,000 pounds.



Habitat: The right whale likes to live in bays and peninsulas, or shallow, coastal waters. Four common areas for the whales to be found in are the Browns-Baccaro Bank, the Bay of Fundy, the Great South Channel, and the [|Cape Cod Bay]. These areas provide good food, shelter, and mating grounds for the whales. The right whale is found throughout the North Atlantic shoreline, as well. They are found mostly in the western end of the Atlantic, but some have reported sightings as far east as [|Sicily].

Behavior: The North Atlantic Right Whale is very playful. It will often roll around on the surface, flapping its pectoral fins (fins on the side) or tail lobbing (throwing its tail into the air and crashing it back into the water). It will often breach (jump out of the water, below) or spy hop (lift its head out of the water, above, under title of the page).



Breeding: The right whale will most likely mate between December and March of each year and most calves are born in the winter. Females tend to have a baby once every 3 or 4 years. Many scientists believe that these whales do not fight for their mating partner, which is very rare among mammals. Because no fights occur, females may mate with more than one male.

Hunting and Diet: The right whale will skim along the surface or just beneath the surface of the water with their mouths open when they feed. They just pass along and have [|zooplankton] go into their mouth. After a while, they will close their mouths and push their tongues forward in their mouth against plates called baleen. Baleen are like very thick bristles that filter their food. When the tongue goes forward, it pushes all of the water and plankton forward. The water will pass through, but the plankton will get stuck in the baleen. Then the whale just swallows all of the plankton. The feeding habits of the whale is another reason why there are so few of them. Because they are almost always near or at the surface, they are hit by ships a lot. It is also rarely hunted by killer whales, some types of sharks, and humans.

Helping the Right Whale: There are many organizations that are currently trying to help conserve the whale, both governmental and nongovernmental. These organizations help injured whales and help their habitat. They try to keep our oceans free of pollution and therefore the whales out of harms way. They also try and pass new laws to help the whale. For instance, there is a current rule stating that you must stay at least 50 feet away from the whale (if you are 55 feet away and the whale swims closer to you, however, it is OK). Some organizations are trying to extend this distance. If you would like to find out some information about how you can help save the right whale, please visit some of the links below.

http://www.rightwhaleweb.org/ http://www.adoptrightwhales.ca/

I can't possibly explain every little detail about the north atlantic right whale, so if you would like to learn more about these creatures, please visit some of the links below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_whale http://www.hsus.org/marine_mammals/a_closer_look_at_marine_mammals/right_whales/ http://www.animalinfo.org/species/cetacean/eubaglac.htm

This North Atlantic Right Whale was seen in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. media type="youtube" key="Le7xc8y3UdA&rel=1" height="355" width="425"

If you would like to take a quiz on the right whale click [|HERE].

Have your cameras ready because the Ocelot is a very rare animal to see. The ocelot is one of the most beautiful and gracious animals of the cat family. They have spots just like leopards, so don't get confused between ocelots and leopards. Sadly, there are not a lot of Ocelots which means that they are an endangered species. I was interested in the ocelot because I thought that it was a beautiful animal. Also I picked the Ocelot because I love cats and the Ocelot is part of the cat family. I am going to research **why the Ocelot is endangered and what people are doing to help this animal.** As well as where it lives, its behavior and the predator-prey relationship.
 * __Ocelot__**

There are two reasons that the ocelot is endangered. One reason that the Ocelot is endangered is that about 80,000 ocelots were being killed in the amazon each year for their fur. It was probably the most frequently hunted cat in Latin America. The ocelot was hunted and killed so much that the little spotted cat became the leading spotted cat in the internatonal fur trade. This happened because the ocelot was hunted so much it wasn't easy to locate. Fortunately, the United States banned importation of ocelot pelts in 1972. The other reason is habitat loss. The clearing of forest for ranching and farming has posed a more immediate threat to the ocelot, eliminating much of the cat's lowland habitat. The feline was classified a "vulnerable" endangered species from the 1980s until 1996, but is now generally considered "least concern" by the 2006 IUCN Red List.
 * __Endangerment__**

The Ocelot is distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean. The Ocelot is found in very diverse habitats including rain forests, montane forests, thick bush, semi-deserts, coastal marsh, and along river banks, but it is never found in open country. Ocelots appear to be better adapted to habitat disturbance and can live in disturbed forest. But they can be found in a variety of habitats in Belize, from dry scrub to the dense forests. It is on the verge of completely disappearinf from the state of Texas. The ocelot is a skilled climber and often hunts in trees but usually hunts lying on the ground waiting for its prey to wander past them. It lives in pairs in well-defined territories. Both partners will hunt alone but when killing a large animal they will work together. The ocelot is nocturnal and will spend most of the day lying on tree branches. It has a home range of one to four square miles.
 * __Habitat__**
 * __Behavior__**

The ocelot's prey include almost any small animal such as monkeys, snakes, rodents, fish, birds and [|amphibians]. They also prey on small domestic animals such as baby pigs and poultry. Most animals that the ocelot prey on are far smaller than itself. Studies suggest that they hunt and find prey by using odor trails. It also uses very keen vision including night vision. The majority of this cat's prey weigh less than 1-3% of its body weight. Once it spots its prey it will lie flat on its stomach. It will slowly creep forward then run at the prey over a short distance before pouncing then catching it with its razor like claws. The ocelot sharpens its claws by scratching tree trunks.
 * __Prey__**

The only enemies of the ocelot are poachers and hunters. Poachers are people that get inside the rainforest illegally to hunt or take things that are protected by a law.
 * __Predators__**

__**Interesting facts**__ Ocelot's are sometimes kept as pets in South America. they are sometimes friendly and affectionate, but also many times are unpredictable. Ocelots have been known to suddenly attack people they have known for years. The ocelot only has four toes because that is all it needs. The ocelot is also known as the Tigrillo or the painted leopard. The ocelot is three times the size of a house cat. the ocelot's fur resembles a jaguar. They are listed as least concern in the IUCN list of endangered animals. The ocelot is the best known of the South American wild cats. In the 1980's a live ocelot was sold as a pet for $800.00. The ocelot sprays a foul smelling urine on everything that they want to mark as their own. The life span of an average ocelot is 7-10 years. They weigh 17-24 pounds. The average [|gestation] period of the ocelot is 79-85 days.

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