Corals are marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria. They typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.
A coral "group" is a colony of myriad genetically identical polyps. Each polyp is a sac-like animal typically only a few millimeters in diameter and a few centimeters in length. A set of tentacles surround a central mouth opening. An exoskeleton is excreted near the base. Over many generations, the colony thus creates a large skeleton that is characteristic of the species. Individual heads grow by asexual rep
Bycatch is the most critical extinction threat facing marine megafauna in coastal seas, including the world's most endangered dolphins, porpoises, seals, dugongs, sharks, and marine turtles. These vulnerable species share coastal waters with small-scale fisheries that employ 99% of the world's 50 million fishers. An estimate of global dolphin and porpoise bycatch indicates that more than 300,000 individuals are killed each year, with about 98% resulting from entanglement in gillnets and about 2% in trawlers and other gear, such as long lines.
A global review of marine mammal consumption by humans concluded that targeted hunts of small cetaceans have generally been reduced and capture
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
Barn owls are one of the most widely distributed birds found everywhere around the world apart from the polar and desert regions. Although this is the case, the barn owl population is more predominant in the Southern Hemisphere due to better climate conditions for the barn owl.
Barn owls tend to measure between 25 and 40cm tall and adult barn owls can have a wingspan of up to 110cm long. The wing span of the barn owl is however dependent on the species of barn owl so some owls may be smaller, where other species of barn owl may be much bigger.
Surprisingly, these common barn owls do not make the hoot sound that can often be heard at night. Instead the owls produce a high-pitched
