The lecturer and the passage discuss the disappearance of sea otters from Alaskan coast. The lecturer mainly contradicts the points made in the passage about the possible reasons behind the decline in the population of these mammals.
Firstly, the passage states that one of the main reasons for the decline in population of sea otters is pollution, due to the presence of chemical industries near the coast. The lecturer contradicts this point by pointing out the fact that if that were the case, bodies of sea otters would have been found washed ashore, which isn’t true. She then proposes that instead of pollution, the main cause here is predation. She supports this by explaining how a predator will eat the animal and its body won’t be found on site, which is observed.
Secondly, the passage claims that because of the levels of pollution, other species such as seals and sea lions have also started disappearing off the coast. The lecturer points out the flaw in this concept by giving an example from her predation theory. She mentions that predators such as the orca whale mainly prey on other whales, but the latter have disappeared from the coast due to hunting activities carried out by humans. So, the orcas have adapted by feeding on the animals available in the region, which have also been mentioned as having declining populations in the passage, namely seals and sea lions.
Last but not the least, the passage remarks that the uneven pattern of otter decline can be seen by observing stable populations in some locations compared to others due to environmental factors such as ocean currents. Again, the lecturer refutes this claim by saying that predators cannot access rocky and smaller regions easily, and these happen to be the regions where the sea otter population is stable.
Hence, to conclude, the lecturer refutes the theory of pollution being the major cause of decline of sea otter population given in the passage and proposes predation as the real reason by giving examples such as predators adaptation and inability to access certain regions.
The
lecturer
and the
passage
discuss the disappearance of
sea
otters from Alaskan
coast
. The
lecturer
mainly
contradicts the points made in the
passage
about the possible reasons behind the
decline
in the
population
of these mammals.
Firstly
, the
passage
states that one of the main reasons for the
decline
in
population
of
sea
otters is
pollution
, due to the presence of chemical industries near the
coast
. The
lecturer
contradicts this point by pointing out the fact that if that were the case, bodies of
sea
otters would have
been found
washed ashore, which isn’t true. She then proposes that
instead
of
pollution
, the main cause here is predation. She supports this by explaining how a predator will eat the animal and its body won’t
be found
on site, which
is observed
.
Secondly
, the
passage
claims that
because
of the levels of
pollution
, other species such as seals and
sea
lions have
also
started
disappearing off the
coast
. The
lecturer
points out the flaw in this concept by giving an example from her predation theory. She mentions that predators such as the orca whale
mainly
prey on other whales,
but
the latter have disappeared from the
coast
due to hunting activities carried out by humans.
So
, the orcas have adapted by feeding on the animals available in the
region
, which have
also
been mentioned
as having declining
populations
in the
passage
,
namely
seals and
sea
lions.
Last
but
not the least, the
passage
remarks that the uneven pattern of otter
decline
can be
seen
by observing stable
populations
in
some
locations compared to others due to environmental factors such as ocean currents. Again, the
lecturer
refutes this claim by saying that predators cannot access rocky and smaller
regions
easily
, and these happen to be the
regions
where the
sea
otter
population
is stable.
Hence
,
to conclude
, the
lecturer
refutes the theory of
pollution
being the major cause of
decline
of
sea
otter
population
given
in the
passage
and proposes predation as the real reason by giving examples such as predators adaptation and inability to access certain
regions
.