Would you ever think that seals could get disease from nearby dogs? In the article Endangered Galapagos Sea Lions Are Threatened by Dog Disease by Jason Koebler, it explains how this could be an unfortunate possibility. This situation concerns the Galapagos Seals the live on San Cristobal Island. These seals ignore humans but they are attracted to the smell of the dogs that wander on the beach. Since the Sea Lions are now regularly in contact with dogs, it is a possibility that the seals will come down with distemper, a disease carried by the dogs. There are many new dogs that come to the islands which have not been checked for the disease. Sadly, even though there are laws banning the importation of new dogs, they are not enforced. “Galapagos Sea Lions are at a high risk for catching diseases that affect dogs, and a particularly bad outbreak could quickly spread throughout the population,” according to Patrick Brock, a biologist who spent 18 months studying sea lions on the Galapagos. The Sea Lions are known to be in close quarters with each other and because of this, the disease can be easily spread and the population could suffer.
Another issue being faced by the sea lions is scarcity of food. When there is a shortage of food, the seals will usually travel long distances in search of prey and will have more interactions with humans and domestic animals. At one point these seals were specified on the endangered list, not because of decrease in population, but because of the immense risk of food shortage and disease at the time period. Presently, officials are working hard to keep seals and dogs apart. The problem of the quickly increasing dog population leaves a possibility of an outbreak in a matter of time.
Sea Lions are an important part of the marine food chain, they are near the top. They also serve as an important population control mechanism for large bodied fish and an important food source for sharks. This topic relates to the topic of food chains and food webs that we have been learning about it class. If this single organism was removed from the food chain there would be many negative effects regarding other organisms in the marine food chain. Our ecosystem is extremely fragile and can be drastically changed even by the elimination of a single organism. What I would like to know is if other animals could be at risk for similar situations. I would also like to know if this will become a huge problem as the population of domestic animals continues to increase.
Aimee,
ReplyDeleteI thought it was cool how you branched off and took a completely different topic than some of the other blog posts. It is a part of the world that people are ignorant about. I'm glad that you decided to write about, because I was also unaware of this issue. Although a small one, concerning the United States, it's still as you said a huge hit to the food chain there. Also it's illegal. You hear about some horrid things that are legal, but this one is illegal and is still done. I would like to know in the long run how this will eventually effect the world? In my own opinions, I think not doing anything about this now will eventually come back to bite us in the butt. Again, i'm glad you brought this topic to light! Excellent job!
Great job Aimee! Your topic really interested me because I had no idea how “dog disease” could relate to seals. I had never heard about this on the news, and it seems like it should be more known. Maybe it people knew more about it, it could be stopped. Your post made me wonder if other things like this could be happening around the world that nobody really knows about. Great job!
ReplyDeleteYou did a very good job, Aimee! Before I even read your post, I was immediately engaged by your title. Your title was creative and it made me wanted to read the rest of the post. The blog post itself was about a matter I had no clue even existed until I read about it. It is terrible what is happening to the Galapagos Sea Lion population, but not many people are aware of it, so steps are not being taken to solve the problem. I wonder what would happen if some citizens in this area were told to get rid of their pets? Would this make the matter worse or better? As a whole, your blog post was well-written and interesting. Good work!
ReplyDeleteAimee, I thought the topic you chose was unique and talked about a topic that I hadn't really seen on the blog yet. Your article was well-written and I could tell you had taken the time to proofread. I liked how you talked about the entire ecosytem getting out of whack if even a single organism went extinct. I had never heard about "dog disease" and it was nice that you shed some light on this issue. I like how you asked questions, expanding the article to something bigger. Overall great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat job! You put a lot a really good details in this. I didn't know that sea lions and dogs really interacted and that the sea lions could become extinct. I also liked how at the end you put some ideas that you would like to learn more about and your title was very eye catching and it made me want to read this. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI think that you did a very good job at writing your post and explaining the issue. I was surprised to find out that sea lions were attracted to dogs and could get diseases from them, I probably never would have known. I also think that people should start addressing this problem more because it could lead to a decrease in sea lions. I think that you stated your opinion very clearly and you have lots of good details in your summary.
ReplyDeleteAs I was deciding what blog post comment on, your title definitely caught my eye. It's nice to read a post that's about something kind of different, like the fact that seals are at risk of disease by interacting with domestic animals. This isn't the kind of thing that you see in the news every day. It's weird to me that our domestic animals can be as dangerous to wildlife as we can. Animals in the wild interact all the time, but when our pets try to interact with them it's risky and unsafe, because they could spread disease. I've read about this happening when humans interact with wildlife, but it's very odd to think that our dogs and cats, whose ancestors lived in the wild along with those of the seals', could do the same. I guess you could say that our pets are on a path to becoming more human than animal, as their presence in their natural habitat-the outdoors- can be detrimental to the community they were once a part of.
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