13.09.2020 Animal of the week: Marine Iguanas

Hello everyone,

Today's animal of the week's post is about marine iguanas.

Habitat

Marine iguanas live on the Galapagos islands, which are situated on the equator, just off the east of South America. They don't live any where else in the world. Almost every Galapagos island has a different species of iguana.

Diet

Marine iguanas eat algae. They have to dive into the sea to do this. They have become excellent swimmers. They can dive down to depths of 20 metres. Marine iguanas can hold their breath for a very long time, more than 15 minutes.

Marine iguanas have evolved to match their surroundings. Being cold-blooded means that they get very cold when they go swimming for algae. They have black scales, so that they can absorb as much warmth from the sun as possible.

Threats

Unfortunately marine iguanas have quite a few threats.

1. El Niño

El Niño is a kind of storm. It happens every four to seven years. El Niño destroys the green algae, so the marine iguanas try to eat brown algae, which they can't digest. Hundreds of marine iguanas die from starvation.

2. Birds of prey

Birds of prey pick off the young and the weak marine iguanas. However, this doesn't effect the population much.

3. Humans

As with most animals, we are the one of the biggest threats to the marine iguana population. Humans now visit the Galapagos Islands just for a holiday. Most people who go there don't realise that they are destroying an amazing ecosystem just by being there. At least, I hope they don't. If they did know and continued to go there, they would be knowingly destroying the environment.

Cats, dogs, rats and pigs all have two things in common; 1, they were all introduced to the Galapagos islands by humans and 2, they all prey on marine iguanas.

Marine iguanas are also effected by rising sea levels and air temperature. These affect their breading sites and habits, and make it harder to control their body temperature. And rising sea levels and air temperature are both caused by climate change and climate change is caused by humans.

If you want to learn more about these amazing creatures, I would suggest watching 'Galapagos with David Attenborough'.

Thank you! I hope you enjoyed reading this.

Sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/facts/marine-iguana
https://oceana.org/marine-life/marine-iguana/

Image: Marine iguana, owned by Peter Wilton (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Comments

HB14/09/2020, 15:34
It’s great that you are featuring such fantastic creatures- really excellent.
I love the marine iguanas and I know a young man whose name begins with S who loves these as we do.
It’s so important you are highlighting these and other amazing creatures and that we must all reduce our carbon footprint radically to preserve these from just being museum pieces.
RB
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

The life of ... an alcon blue butterfly

Hi everyone, Today we are going to be looking into the life of an alcon blue butterfly (Phengaris alcon). After mating, the females lay their eggs on marsh gentian, a blue-coloured wildflower. The eggs can only be laid on these flowers, as this is what the newly hatched caterpillars will eat. Although in some alp regions, they can also be found on willow gentians, a close relative of the marsh gentian. Once the caterpillars have hatched from the eggs, their main predator and danger are the ants that swarm below. But high on their plant homes, the caterpillars are safe. However, this isn't where the alcon blue caterpillars are going to stay forever. Eventually, they drop down to the ground using silk strings. With no protection, they are soon dragged off by the ants. The most amazing part is, the alcon blue caterpillars give off the same scent and chemicals as the ant larvae. So the ants take the caterpillars back to their brood chamber, wher...

10 Animals on the Edge of Extinction No. 10- The Javan Rhino

The Javan rhino is listed as the 1st animal on WWF’s list of the 10 world’s most endangered animals, and I for my part, had never heard of it! If you hadn’t either, we’re changing that now. A bit about the rhino’s lifestyle The Javan rhinos are now exclusively found on the island of Java in Indonesia, but were once found in vast regions of northeast india and Southeast Asia. They have a dark grey colour which looks almost black when wet, and their (often pink) skin folds look a bit like plated armor. Both males and females have lower incisors which resemble tusks that they use to fight. Males have one relatively short horn of about 25 cm (10 inches). Javan Rhinos live in tropical forests, marshy areas and in the thick bush. They are mainly browsers and eat over 100 plants species they find in the forest, weigh between 900 and 2300 kg (1984-5071 pounds) and are between 3 and 3.2 meters (10- 10.5 feet) long. How endangered are we talking? Javan rhinos are the most ...

Animals 11-15 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hello, We have another five amazing animals for you today. Enjoy! 11. Dhole This is a dog species which looks rather like a red fox . They are difficult to put into any of the dog subfamilies. They aren't foxes, nor wolves, nor domestic dogs. Dholes are fast runners and live in packs of 5-12 individuals. Although sometimes, different packs will join forces to become a pack of 30 or more individuals! However, these super packs are broken up after a successful hunt. The different packs rarely attack each other as neighbouring packs are often closely related. Dhole packs live in burrows with multiple entrances. They can be found in eastern and southern Asia. They eat wild berries, insects and lizards and as a pack hunt deer, rodents and other wild mammals. Interestingly, unlike other dogs, they rarely kill by biting at the throat. They are also good swimmers! 12. Irrawaddy dolphin The Irrawaddy dolphin can be found in coastal areas of south a...

March Top Tips // 10 little things you can avoid in daily life

Welcome to the Top Tips this month! We'll be talking about 10 things you can avoid using in everyday life. We know it's a really simple topic, but it can actually make quite a difference. The avoidable stuff will be things many use because they look nice or taste nice or similar, but aren't actually necessary. We will also write a couple of facts on these things, and give ideas on how you could substitute them if possible. Many might be very obvious, but think about it, do you actually not use them? Have fun! Chewing Gum Most people would not be surprised when told that lots of chewing gum have synthetic colouring and flavouring. However, most people would be surprised when told that chewing gum is largely made of plastic. What the companies call the "gum base" is plastic and partly made of the same stuff plastic bags are made of. The gum contains microplastics that, if you spit your gum on the ground often tend to get into the oce...

Energy comparison: natural gas

Hi everyone, Today we're talking about natural gas. Natural gas is a commonly used fossil fuel. So we thought we would go over the pros and cons of natural gas. So first of all, we can quickly cover what natural gas actually is. In its natural form it's a mix of mostly methane and then some other chemical components like propane and butane. However, it's normally processed so that it's almost pure methane. Natural gas forms when organic materials (like dead plants and animals) are crushed into the ground. So it's like coal in that sense. The most popular theory is that the different conditions like temperature and pressure then control whether coal, oil, or gas is formed. Natural gas reserves are found globally. The largest gas fields are in Russia, under the North Sea, in the United States, Canada, Algeria and the Middle East. It's often found near to or even in oil fields. Natural gas is colourless, odorless, tasteless and ...

Deforestation and why it’s a problem

Hi everyone, Welcome back to another post. Today we’ll be talking about deforestation and its impacts on our earth. Deforestation, the widespread clearance of natural forests, has been happening for thousands of years. One example is Western Europe, where, two millennia ago, 80% of the land was cloaked in dense forest cover. However, over time, a significant portion of this green expanse was sacrificed to create room for crops, livestock grazing, and as a source of fuel and building materials. Presently, a mere 34% of Western Europe retains its woodland. Today, the tropics deal with the brunt of deforestation. Activities such as mining, agriculture, road construction, and the establishment of vast cattle ranches drive the mass clearance of tropical rainforests. This results in the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, exacerbating the global climate crisis. The consequences come in two waves: first, the reduced number of...

Eco System, Galapagos: Part 2 Evolution

Hello and welcome to our second post in the Galapagos Series. Today we are going to talk about the iconic evolution in the Islands. The evolution on Galapagos is incredible. It was these islands that gave Charles Darwin the idea of Evolution by Natural Selection. He landed on the Galapagos island on September 16th 1835. The Galapagos Islands are home to hundreds of different types of animal. Creatures like the Galapagos penguin swam to the islands. Giant Tortoises and Marine Iguanas were carried to the islands by ocean currents. They can survive for months without food or water. Birds carried seeds to the islands when they stopped for a break. Insects like spiders got blown off branches and landed on the islands. The arrival of pollinators was crucial for plant life and therefore also the entire ecosystem. Carpenter Bees make nests in tree trunks. It is thought that some carpenter bees' nests were carried across the ocean as d...

Ecotourism: what it is, the advantages and the disadvantages

Hi Everyone! Today we wanted to talk about the idea of ecotourism, including the advantages and disadvantages of this concept. If you are looking to reduce your environmental and social impact when travelling, then this is the post for you! Ecotourism is a form of tourism which limits the damage to the environment and local community. It can involve helping in community projects such as planting trees, as well as taking part in local customs and festivals. It helps to keep the local culture alive, while preserving the natural environment. The advantages are abundant. By helping in a project conserving the environment, tourists gain a new understanding and appreciation for the natural world and may be inspired to make changes in their "real" life to live more sustainably. It provides a valuable insight to a country and community, perhaps also inspiring more respect for different people and the lives they lead. The projects also provide sustainable income sources for locals, h...

Animals 21-25 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hi Everyone! Here are the next five animals in our current series! We hope you learn something from this. 21. Stick insect Stick insects are masters of disguise. They look like twigs or leaves. This strange appearance makes them hard to spot when stationary. Stick insects are herbivores, feeding on leaves, and can live for up to three years. Their habitat includes most tropical and subtropical regions, but there are a few species that live in temperate areas as well. There are roughly 3 000 different stick insect species! Not much more is known about them, because they are difficult to find. The two main threats to their populations are the pet trade and people killing them so as to frame their carcasses, like butterflies. Their conservation status ranges from critically endangered to least concern - so basically every category that is on the list! 22. Glass frog The glass frog is, well, see through. You can literally ...

Climate change: what is it and what's the problem

Hello, I've noticed that we are always mentioning climate change. Not only us blog editors but also politicians, activists and so on. The words climate change are bounced around in the media and probably in your households, but do you actually know what it is or how it works? I know that for a long time, I didn't know what it really meant. I hope that this post changes that. What is climate change and how does it work? The words climate change describe a slow shift in the earth's temperature and changes in the weather patterns. Having a single warm winter does not instantly mean climate change. Climate change happens over a long period of time. If you look at a temperature graph over the years, it doesn't go up in one day and then stay the same for another hundred years. It curves up slowly but steadily. This is a average temperature graph from 1880 to just after 2000. You can see how the temperature gradually gets warmer....

Green World

Search This Blog