The Typical Diet of Sea Otters

The Typical Diet of Sea Otters Sea otters live in the Pacific Ocean and are found in Russia, Alaska, Washington state and California. These furry marine mammals are one of only a few marine animals known  to use tools to obtain their food. A Sea Otters Diet Sea otters eat a wide variety of prey, including marine invertebrates such as echinoderms (sea stars and sea urchins), crustaceans (e.g., crabs), cephalopods (e.g., squid), bivalves  (clams, mussels, abalone), gastropods (snails), and chitons. How Do Sea Otters Eat? Sea otters obtain their food by diving. Using their webbed feet, which are well adapted for swimming, sea otters can dive more than 200 feet and stay underwater for up to 5 minutes. Sea otters can sense prey using their whiskers. They also use their agile front paws to find and grasp their prey. Sea otters are one of the only mammals  that are been known to use tools to obtain and eat their prey. They can use a rock to dislodge mollusks and urchins from the rocks where they are attached. Once at the surface, they often eat by placing the food on their stomachs, and then placing a rock on their stomachs and then smashing the prey on the rock to open it and get at the flesh inside. Prey Preferences Individual otters in an area seem to have different prey preferences.  A study in California found that among an otter population, different otters specialized in diving at different depths to find different prey items. There are deep-diving otters that eat benthic organisms such as urchins, crabs, and abalone, medium-diving otters that forage for clams and worms and others that feed at the surface on organisms such as snails. These dietary preferences may also make certain otters susceptible to disease. For example, sea otters eating snails in Monterey Bay appear more likely to contract Toxoplama gondii, a parasite found in cat feces. Storage Compartments Sea otters have loose skin and baggy pockets underneath their forelimbs. They can store extra food, and rocks used as tools, in these pockets. Impacts on the Ecosystem Sea otters have a high metabolic rate (that is, they use a high amount of energy) that is 2-3 times that of other mammals their size. Sea otters eat about 20-30% of their body weight each day. Otters weigh 35-90 pounds (males weigh more than females). So, a 50-pound otter would need to eat about 10-15 pounds of food per day. The food sea otters eat can impact the entire ecosystem in which they live. Sea otters have been found to play a pivotal role in the habitat and marine life that inhabit a kelp forest. In a kelp forest, sea urchins can graze on the kelp and eat their holdfasts, resulting in deforesting the kelp from an area. But if sea otters are abundant, they eat sea urchins and keep the urchin population in check, which allows kelp to flourish. This, in turn, provides shelter for sea otter pups and a variety of other marine life, including fish. This allows other marine, and even terrestrial animals, to have abundant amounts of prey. Sources: Estes, J.A., Smith, N.S., and J.F. Palmisano. 1978. Sea otter predation and community organization in the Western Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Ecology 59(4):822-833.Johnson, C.K.,  Tinker, M.T., Estes, J.A., Conrad, P.A., Staedler, M., Miller, M.A., Jessup, D.A. and Mazet, J.A.K. 2009. Prey choice and habitat use drive sea otter pathogen exposure in a resource-limited coastal system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(7):2242-2247Laustsen, Paul. 2008. Alaskas Sea-Otter Decline Affects Health of Kelp Forests and Diet of Eagles. USGS.Newsome, S.D.,  M.T. Tinker, D.H. Monson, O.T. Oftedal, K. Ralls, M. Staedler, M.L. Fogel, and J.A. Estes.  2009. Using stable isotopes to investigate individual diet specialization in California sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) Ecology 90: 961-974.Righthand, J. 2011. Otters: The Picky Eaters of the Pacific. Smithsonian Magazine.Sea Otters. Vancouver Aquarium.The Marine Mammal Center. Animal Classification: Sea Otter.

How to Create a Homeschooling Lifestyle

How to Create a Homeschooling Lifestyle Academics are a vital  aspect of homeschooling. However, we homeschooling parents need to avoid the trap of becoming  overly focused on them and on trying to recreate a traditional classroom setting. Doing so can cause us to  lose sight of what a gift it is to have the  freedom  to homeschool our children. Home educating doesn’t mean that we bring school home. Instead, it means that we incorporate learning into our everyday lives until it becomes an extension of our family life. Try these simple tips to put the home  in your schooling. 1. Snuggle up together to read – even if you’re all reading different books. It doesn’t matter if you’re reading books for school or books for fun, if you’re reading aloud or everyone has their own book – snuggle up to read together! A bed or couch is a perfect, year-round snuggle spot. A blanket in the back yard makes a stress-relieving warm weather book nook. Move the blanket near the fireplace or heater for a cozy cold weather spot. 2. Bake together. Baking together provides opportunities for younger kids to practice real-life math applications (such as adding and subtracting fractions), following directions, and basic kitchen chemistry. It allows older students to learn home-making skills in a real-world context. Baking together creates  discussion time for kids of all ages. It also helps your entire family to bond and create memories together. 3. Learn alongside each other. You don’t have to fumble your way through algebra or chemistry. Take the course with your students and learn together. This shows your kids shows them that learning never stops. 4. Discover family hobbies. Discovering activities that you all enjoy doing together builds family relationships .It also  provides additional  learning opportunities. For older kids, family hobbies may even translate to elective credits for high school. 5. Take family field trips. It’s fun to go on field trips with your homeschool group, but don’t forget about family-only field trips. The kids often learn more because they’re not distracted by friends. Family field trips also provide the non-teaching parent a chance to get involved with what the kids are learning. 6. Involve the non- teaching parent in real, practical ways. Let Dad (or Mom) do something besides ask, â€Å"What did you learn in school today?† Let the parent who isnt the primary teacher do science experiments or art class on the weekends or in the evenings. Let him read aloud to the kids in the evenings. Ask him to teach them to change the oil in the car, cook a favorite meal, or set up an Excel spreadsheet. Be aware of practical opportunities for homeschool dads (or moms) to be involved based on their talents and your family’s needs. 7. Allow character training to take place over academics. There comes a time in every homeschooling family’s life when character training needs your focus. It’s a time when you need to put the books aside and give your attention to the issue at hand. The books will still be there tomorrow or next week or next month. 8. Involve your children in your everyday life. Don’t overlook the educational value of everyday activities such as grocery shopping, running errands, or voting. Take your children with you. Don’t feel that school has to be a completely separate part of your day. 9. Don’t consider life events a disruption to school. At some point, most families will face life events such as a death, a birth, moving, or an illness. These are not disruptions to learning. They are opportunities to learn and grow together as a family. 10. Be involved in your community. Look for ways to get involved in your community as a family. Serve in the local soup kitchen. Volunteer at the library. Work in local politics.   Homeschooling families need to understand that learning happens all the time. We need to embrace these moments,  instead of seeing them as a disruption to school.   Dont miss the opportunities that are all around you to put the home in your schooling.

Manufacturer Brief Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Manufacturer Brief - Case Study Example Number of employees: According to the data as at 2013, the company has an approximate of 2,000 employees. The number of employees has been increasing for the last five years an indication that the company is growing. Annual revenue: The Company’s annual revenue is approximated to be $150 million. According to the world’s statistic, the company’s revenue has been increasing with 2 per cent for the last seven years. Recent news release: The Company introduced four digital TLM 103D microphones for vocal applications building. The microphones have a little self-generated noise. They also have a clear sound transmission that is clearly heard at a distance. The Company’s interaction with its clients: The Company has an active interaction with its customers. Through the company’s website, clients can submit their proposals and complaints. More so, the company has created a page in social media like Facebook. The created page enables the company to market itself and also to receive customers’ opinions. It has helped the Company produce microphones that meet the customers’ tastes and

Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Microeconomics - Essay Example One of the main characteristics of perfect competition includes sale of homogenous goods where all firms in the market same the same good. The second characteristic of perfect competitive market is perfect information where all sellers and buyers if goods know the price of the good and an increase in price by the seller will result in zero sales. Monopoly is a market structure consisting of one seller and many buyers; hence, the seller has total maker power on price and quantity. The main characteristic of this market is the lack of close substitutes; hence, the users have to purchase from the firm at the price. The second characteristic of monopoly is high barriers of entry that could be as a result of high capital requirement, ownership of production resources by the firm, natural causes, and government offer of single license to the firm ensuring presence of abnormal profits in the long-run in a monopoly market. Oligopoly defines a market structure characterized by few large firms operating in the market hence the decision of a firm affects other firms in the market. A characteristic of an oligopoly is aggressive and defensive advertising to ensure buyers get information on the products and give a firm advantage over the other firms in the market. The other characteristic is price rigidity, since when one firm increase price other firms may not follow suit leading to loss of sales by the firm with an increased prices and augmented sales for the other firms. Monopolistic competition consists of a market structure consisting of firms with a degree of market power owing to the production of non-perfectly substitutable goods, and the aim of the firms is profit maximization. A characteristic of monopolistic competition is free entry of firms ensuring the economic profits in the long-run are reduced to normal profits. The second characteristic is that firms produce differentiated products allowing for a certain degree of market power since the goods cannot be

Plagiarism and the Internet :: Exploratory Essays

Plagiarism and the Internet Plagiarism has always been a problem in schools. However, with the invention of the internet, it has made plagiarism even more of a challenge. Plagiarism.org, â€Å"estimates that nearly 30 percent of all students may be plagiarizing on all their written assignments and that the use of the Internet has made plagiarism much worse.† [1] The act of plagiarism can be defined as, â€Å"To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own, to use (another’s production) without crediting the source, to commit literary theft, to present as new and original as idea or product derived from an existing source†2. Plagiarism has become such a concern for colleges that almost all the sites on this topic are sponsored by schools. The three main topics with plagiarism are the copy and paste function, â€Å"paper mills† and the ways that can be used to prevent students from doing this. The first major concern with the internet would be the copy and paste function. Wittenberg lists that â€Å"Widespread availability of the internet and increased access to full text databases has made cut and paste plagiarism very easy†.3 While the function is actually very nice to have, people are using it the wrong way. Instead of just using it to copy quotes from websites, than pasting it to their word document and giving it the proper credit, people are passing it off as their own. This is where the problem occurs. The function is actually very beneficial. In fact it has helped with the writing of this paper. I just made sure to give the proper credit necessary. One aspect of this function that leads to plagiarism that many people are not aware of is as follows: â€Å"When students capture images or text from other websites or scan hard copy to include in a website without attribution or permission, the result can be a violation of copyright law†.4 Most people are used to just copy and pasting images when necessary but are not always aware pictures may be copyrighted. We must take extra care when copy and pasting in order to avoid plagiarism. The next problem with the internet and plagiarism that leads to a lack of independent thought would be the availability of paper mills. Plagiarism.org, â€Å"points to the proliferation of â€Å"paper mills†, Internet sites which allow students, sometimes at a nominal fee, to buy ready-made research papers†.

Similarties and Differences Between Romeo and Juliet Movies

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Is a play based on love, hate, tragedy and sacrifice. It has been retold many different times in both written and film text and it is effective and timeless throughout the use of many techniques. Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zefirelli are two directors who have made this classic play into film. Both directors have portrayed the major scenes within the play with some similarities and differences. The three major fight scenes being discussed are: the fight scene at the start, the fight scene between Tybalt and Mecrutio and the death scene of Romeo and Juliet.In the first scene, the audience is introduced to the hatred between the two feuding families, and both directors portray this in similar and different ways. One similarity is the camera angles; there are close ups to reveal the palpable emotion on the Capulet’s and the Montague’s faces and bird’s eye views to explore the conflict. A noticeable difference between the versions is the music; Luhrmann uses intense, powerful music to set the mood, however, Zefirelli uses the crowd’s uproar.Another difference is the exposure of Christ; in Luhrmann’s, a huge statue of Christ is shown as a representation of the power of the Church over the lives of the people below. On the contrary, in Zefirelli’s, no religion is revealed. During the fight scene between Tybalt and Mecrutio, Luhrmann and Zefirelli approach it in a very similar but contrasting manner. In Zefirelli’s version, the atmosphere is almost comical as the two battle it out; until Tybalt takes it too far and fatally stabs Mecrutio. In Luhrmann’s, Tybalt seems overcome with rage and fights Mecrutio mercilessly.The similarity in both versions is that when the fight ends there is a close up on Tybalt’s face that reveals his regret towards Mecrutio’s death. During the conflict, Luhrmann cleverly uses a visual metaphor in the background; the brewing of a storm. As the scene gets more intense, the storm becomes more pronounced, until finally it is unleashed as Romeo kills Tybalt. Zefirelli delivers his fight scene more mundanely. In the scene were Romeo and Juliet die, Luhrmann and Zefirelli approach it in two different ways that are both effective in their similarities and differences.Luhrmann portrays Juliet as the centre of attention, dressed symbolically in white, surrounded by a sea of candles. Both versions include a shot of the dead star crossed lovers lying in each other’s arms, finally together. In Luhrmann’s, he builds up the suspense until you almost believe Juliet will wake up in time to stop Romeo taking the poison. Whereas Zefirelli’s leaves no doubt that they will not be together. A crucial final difference in both versions is that Luhrmann never shows the families reuniting.In the play, Capulet and Montague agree to end their feud; in the Zefirelli film, the families converge visually. Zefirelli and Luhrma nn have both made spectacular versions of Romeo and Juliet, both approached it in different but similar ways. Zefirelli’s version is intriguing, but the overall winner is Luhrmann’s. He captivates the audience with an amazing cast, exciting camera angles and enchanting music. Despite the modern outtake of his interpretation of the play, Luhrmann’s film language remains Shakespearian, which gives it that authentic touch.

Fat Free Donut Marketing Plan - 1309 Words

Essay 1: Describe the marketing plan to introduce a new fat-free donut. A good marketing plan for a fat-free donut will usually summarizes the standard who, what, where, when, and how much inquiries of a company marketing and sales actions for the planning year: †¢ Who are our target buyers of the product and where are they best located? The target selling demographic will be ages 18-45 with both genders and all ethnicities accounted for. I targeted this age group with both genders, because this group is usually the most active is spending money and the most concerned with their physical appearance to be healthy all while still devouring a quality, yet tasteful product. My target buyers for this product will vary, but my central target†¦show more content†¦The profits will come by the low, affordable price for them that will make the customers feel they are not losing on too much money in case they make not be fond of the product by buying and trying it out at home. Essay 2: Explain the sales process and the segmentation of customers Sales segmentation is the procedure of creating separate marketing tactics to appeal to consumers with different needs, interests, finances or other traits. It involves identifying segments of your likely customer base that have the greatest probability of buying your products or services. This process allows your business to more proficiently market to individual groups of consumers or clients. This process does not have be complex at all. For most small companies, it could be as a simple as recognizing that you may two to three very specific customer types with different needs between them. Dr. Kee knew with his own pastry business, he told us to ask ourselves some questions such as, â€Å"Who do you want to talk to and sell to?† He gave us a list of variables to narrow that answer down. 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