{"id":29034,"date":"2024-12-28T08:44:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T03:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=29034"},"modified":"2025-04-09T00:00:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T18:30:57","slug":"how-sea-otters-are-saving-coastal-ecosystems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/how-sea-otters-are-saving-coastal-ecosystems\/","title":{"rendered":"How Sea Otters are Saving Coastal Ecosystems"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Sea Otters<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sea otters<\/strong> were extensively hunted in the <strong>18th and 19th centuries<\/strong> for their <strong>thick, soft fur<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Declared a <strong>fully protected mammal<\/strong> in California in <strong>1913<\/strong>, but populations faced challenges from <strong>oil spills<\/strong> and habitat loss.<\/li>\n<li>Their numbers rebounded after being listed as <strong>threatened and federally protected<\/strong> in <strong>1977<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Contribution to Limiting Green Crabs<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sea otters consume <strong>50,000 to 120,000 green crabs annually<\/strong>, effectively controlling their population. This marks a significant solution to the invasive species problem on the <strong>West Coast of the United States<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unique adaptations<\/strong>: Unlike other marine mammals, sea otters rely on a <strong>high metabolism<\/strong> rather than blubber to stay warm in cold oceans. They consume about <strong>25% of their body weight daily<\/strong>, making them <strong>voracious predators<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Green Crab (Portunus Sanguinolentus)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The green crab is a <strong>common littoral crab<\/strong>, recognized globally by names such as <strong>shore crab<\/strong> or <strong>green shore crab<\/strong> in the British Isles.It is one of the top 100 <strong>\u201cworld&#8217;s worst alien invasive species\u201d<\/strong>, showcasing its <strong>invasive nature<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Habitat<\/strong>: Native to the <strong>Atlantic Ocean<\/strong> and <strong>Baltic Sea<\/strong>, but now spread to <strong>Australia<\/strong>, <strong>South America<\/strong>, and <strong>South Africa<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Physical Features<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>At maturity, the <strong>carapace width<\/strong> measures about <strong>90 mm<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Colouration varies between <strong>green, brown, grey, and red<\/strong>, with delayed moulting causing red colouration.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Red crabs<\/strong> are more aggressive compared to others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Diet<\/strong>: Feeds on <strong>small crustaceans, molluscs, and worms<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Impact on Ecosystems<\/strong>: The <strong>green crab\u2019s invasive behaviour<\/strong> harms coastal ecosystems by:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Damaging seagrass beds<\/strong>, critical habitats for various marine species.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Overhunting prey species<\/strong>, crucial for the survival of other native species.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Outcompeting native species<\/strong> for resources like food and habitat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1. What is a horseshoe crab?<\/h3>\n<p>A horseshoe crab is a marine arthropod known for its hard exoskeleton and horseshoe-shaped shell. Despite its name, it is more closely related to spiders and scorpions than crabs, dating back over 450 million years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-sci-tech\/sea-otters-california-coastal-ecosystems-9747749\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong>IE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sea otters consume 50,000 to 120,000 green crabs annually, effectively controlling their population. This marks a significant solution to the invasive species problem on the West Coast of the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":29035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-29034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}