Turning the Tide
by Kartik Shanker
(Roots)
Start Here
An endangered species is a plant or animal that is in danger of dying out very soon. Identify the different endangered species based on the clues given and fill in this crossword.
ACROSS
3. a large cat which can climb trees; has yellow fur and black spots.
6. the largest mammal.
7. The Asian ................: a mammal with a trunk.
10. a creature at the top of the underwater food chain.
DOWN
1. The black ..................: a large omnivore.
2. a brown ape which lives in the rainforests.
4. a black, herbivorous ape.
5. a large cat; fastest runner.
8. The giant ..................: a black and white bear which eats bamboo.
9. a large cat with orange and black stripes.
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Comprehension
Read and answer
1. Fill out this fact file of olive ridley sea turtles based on key information given in the lesson you read.
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Length : Two feet.
Weight : About fifty kilogram.
Areas of habitat : Sea and sea beaches.
Main characteristics : They lay their eggs on the same beach where they were born.
2. Choose the correct answers.
a. The sea turtles' annual ritual is known as the arribada, which means
i. agriculture. [ ]
ii. arrival. [✓]
iii. arid. [ ]
b. Current efforts to protect the sea turtles involve creating an alliance between
i. the government and fishermen. [ ]
ii. the fishermen and conservationists. [✓]
iii. conservationists and the government. [ ]
c. Sea turtle hatchlings emerge around ................. after they are laid.
i. one month. [ ]
ii. two months. [✓]
iii. three months. [ ]
3. List the main threats that sea turtles are facing today.
= Today, sea turtles are threatened by human activity. This includes the increasing pollution of the oceans. Electric lights on beaches confuse and disorient hatchlings and prevent them from finding the ocean after they hatch. Fishing nets have killed hundreds of thousands of turtles worldwide; sea turtles are air breathers and when they get accidentally caught in fishing nets, they drown.
4. How do newborn hatchlings locate the sea?
= Newborn hatchlings locate the sea by the reflection of moonlight and starlight on the water.
5. "This amazing natural phenomenon may disappear one day unless we are able to do something about the hazards that threaten these turtles' very existence."
Describe this 'amazing phenomenon' in your own words.
= It is a moonlit night of winter on the beach of Odisha. Silver moon is shining. The moonlight is reflecting on the water and on the sand of the beach and on the backs of a thousand turtles. Tens of thousands come to the shore at the same time to lay eggs.
Reflect and answer
6. "Current efforts to create an alliance between fishermen and conservationists seem to offer some hope." Who else can conservationists work with to save olive ridley turtles? Why?
= I think conservationists can work with the government to save olive ridley turtles.
Government can help them every possible way. Government can help them financially, and manipulate the citizens to abide by the endangered animals conservation laws.
7. If you were a sea turtle conservationist, which threat among those listed in the chapter would you choose to solve first? Why?
= If I were a sea turtle conservationist, I would have controlled the building of making new ports along the coasts.
These will destroy many mass nesting beaches. Offshore oil exploration poses another threat. This coastal development, with attendant problems of pollution, lighting, and habitat loss due to changes in beach dynamics, can cause even further declines in the populations. Not only will sea turtles and other marine organisms suffer, but so will the people who depend on marine resources for their livelihoods. Such development does not help local people as much as it is expected to do.
8. Why is 'Turning the Tide' a suitable title for this passage?
= The author has very aptly described the life cycle and activities of the olive ridley turtles in this text. Sea turtles are magical animals, all the more mystifying because of our ignorance about them. They appear but briefly on land to lay their eggs, and spend the rest of their lives wandering the ocean. When newly hatched, they drift with oceanic currents, sometimes travelling the entire Pacific or Atlantic. When they become adults ten to fifteen years later (or sometimes fifty), they use the earth's magnetic field to find and lay their eggs on the same beach where they were born. They basically live their lives turning the tides of the oceans. This fact makes the title 'Turning the Tide' a suitable one for this text.
About the Author :
Kartik Shanker (Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and Dakshin Foundation, Bengaluru) is an ecologist as well as a writer of children's fiction. His work with turtles over the last 20 years has influenced his interest towards marine conservation.