Welcome back to March Sadness, ClimateProgress’ educational bracket tournament of animals impacted by climate change and other environmental threats. For whichever animal wins, ClimateProgress will write a feature-length article exploring the story behind what’s ailing your chosen critter, and who is working to save them. Read the rules here.
Today, we’re in round two of the Sweet Sixteen, and the winners of our Fins and Flippers division are going head to head. In what promises to be two close matches, Sea Otter will face off against Penguin, and ThinkProgress office-favorite Sea Horse will battle the severely endangered North Atlantic Right Whale.
Only your votes can decide who moves on for a chance at a deep-dive feature story. Vote in the embedded tweets below, on Twitter with the hashtag #CPMarchSadness, or on our Facebook page.
Sea Otter vs. Penguin
Sea Otter: We mentioned last time that sea otters are threatened by toxic algal blooms, which are exacerbated by climate change. A 2010 study found that a toxin found in blue-green algae called microcystin had killed at least 21 California sea otters. In addition, severe weather can make it difficult for sea otters to forage for and find food. According to the IUCN, this can make it hard for otters “to meet their high metabolic needs, leading to malnutrition or starvation.”
But sea otters’ relationship with climate change goes two ways. The marine creatures also serve as fighters of climate change: their main prey — sea urchins — like to eat kelp, so by keeping the sea urchin population at a sustainable level, they keep kelp forests lush. And kelp forests are good at storing carbon: a study in 2012 found that the presence of otters helped carbon storage in North American kelp forests surge.
Penguin: There are a lot of different types of penguins, and climate change is affecting all of them. Decreasing sea ice cover is preventing Emperor penguins from finding food and sheltering their babies. African penguins are declining in part due to fluctuations in water temperature and increased storms on their breeding grounds. And baby Magellanic penguins in Argentina are dying at an unprecedented rate due to heavy rains, strong storms and heat.
Another interesting tidbit about penguins is that 15,000 years ago, they were actually able to tolerate a warming climate. In Antarctica, the Adélie, chinstrap, and gentoo penguins flourished under warming that caused ice sheets to shrink. Now, however, it’s different — there is too little sea ice, which is impacting the food supply. Two out of those three species are now in decline.
Who will make it to the next round for a chance at a feature story?
Who will win? RETWEET for Penguin or FAVE for Sea Otter #CPMarchSadness http://t.co/lzQh1SAaxZ pic.twitter.com/D7Tlow3Pad
— Climate Progress (@climateprogress) March 27, 2015
Whale vs. Seahorse
Whale: The North Atlantic right whale’s name — “right” — comes from the belief that it was the right whale to hunt. It is slow moving, floats when killed, and is full of oil and baleen. Partially due to that, it’s believed to be the most endangered cetacean in the world, a category that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. There are only 450 left in the world.
Decades of efforts to help the dark gray baleen whale recover through international protection have done little to improve the species’ prospects. Warming oceans and changing marine conditions due to climate change and ocean acidification make it harder for the whale, which has an exceptionally long migratory and gestation period, to prosper and further threaten the species’ survival.
Seahorse: Last time we talked about seahorses, we mentioned their fragile coastal ecosystems — coral reefs and mangroves, for instance, are especially vulnerable to disturbances brought on by warming ocean temperatures, ocean acidification, and increased flooding. The Knysna seahorse is extremely vulnerable to increases in water temperatures; in 1991, more than 3,000 were found dead after heavy rainfall resulted in higher than normal temperatures.
Habitat degradation due to development and accidental bycatch from shrimp and fishing vessels also endanger these charismatic creatures. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, out of around 50 species of seahorses, all but one are vulnerable or threatened. In the U.S. the dwarf seahorse, one-inch-long seahorse, found in seagrass beds in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean, is threatened with extinction due to decline of seagrass and lingering pollution from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
Which would you like to know more about? Vote below.
Who will you choose? RETWEET for Whale or FAVE for Sea Horse #CPMarchSadness http://t.co/lzQh1SAaxZ pic.twitter.com/WPiCEtbbDt
— Climate Progress (@climateprogress) March 27, 2015
***TOURNAMENT UPDATES:Day 1–3/19: Paws and Claws pt. 1 — Polar Bear vs. Wombat; Tasmanian Devil vs. Pangolin; (voting closed) WINNERS: Polar Bear and Pangolin.Day 2–3/20: Paws and Claws pt. 2 — Lemur vs. Koala; Panda vs. Wolverine (voting closed) WINNERS: Koala and Wolverine.Day 3–3/23: Fins and Flippers — Sea Lion vs. Sea Horse; Penguin vs. Manatee; Walrus vs. Sea Otter; Whale vs. Salmon (voting closed) WINNERS: Sea Horse, Sea Otter, Whale, and Penguin.Day 4–3/24: Horns and Hooves — Elephant vs. Horned Lizard; Rhino vs. Narwhal; Saola vs. Moose; Mountain Goat vs. Reindeer (voting closed) WINNERS: Elephant, Narwhal, Moose, and Mountain Goat.Day 5–3/25: Shells and Wings — Sea Turtle vs. Pelican; Sage Grouse vs. Peregrine Falcon; Oyster vs. Butterfly; Lobster vs. Red Knot (voting closed) WINNERS: Sea Turtle, Falcon, Butterfly, Red Knot.Day 6–3/26: Polar Bear vs. Pangolin; Koala vs. Wolverine (voting closed) WINNERS: Polar Bear, Wolverine.Day 7–3/27: Sea Horse vs. Whale; Sea Otter vs. Penguin (voting closed) WINNERS: Sea Horse, Sea Otter.Day 8–3/30: Elephant vs. Mountain Goat; Moose vs. Narwhal (voting NOW OPEN)Day 9–3/31: Sea Turtle vs. Red Knot; Butterfly vs. Peregrine FalconDay 10–4/1: TBDDay 11–4/2: TBDDay 12–4/3: THE FINAL FOUR: TBD Day 13–4/6: THE CHAMPIONSHIP: TBD
PAST ROUNDS:Round 7: Sweet Sixteen, part 2Round 6: Sweet Sixteen, part 1Round 5: Shells and WingsRound 4: Horns and HoovesRound 3: Fins and FlippersRound 2: Paws and Claws, part 2Round 1: Paws and Claws, part 1