Killer Whale Dorsal Fin Collapse

Killer Whale Dorsal Fin Collapse For some time, theres been a heated debate about why  killer whales in captivity have dorsal fins that are flopped over or collapsed. Animal-rights activists say that these fins collapse because the conditions under which killer whales - or  orcas - are held in captivity are not healthy. Others, such as water parks that keep killer whales in captivity and use them in theme-park shows, argue that there are no health threats to killer whales held in captivity and that dorsal fin collapse is natural. The Lowdown on Dorsal Fins All killer whales have a dorsal fin on their back, but the males dorsal fin is much taller than a females and can grow up to 6 feet tall. Despite the fact that the dorsal fin is very straight, it is supported not by bone but a fibrous connective tissue called collagen. All males in captivity have collapsed dorsal fins, but the condition, also known as dorsal fin collapse, flaccid fin, or folded fin syndrome, ​does occur in many captive females. Scientists are not certain why orcas have dorsal fins or what purpose the appendages serve. But, there is some speculation.  Whales Online  says that the large dorsal fin enhances the hydrodynamics of killer whales: (The dorsal fin) helps them slip through the water more efficiently. Similar to the ears of elephants or the tongues of dogs, dorsal, caudal and pectoral fins also help eliminate excess heat during intense activities such as hunting. Orca Live  agrees that the fins help regulate a killer whales body temperature: Excess heat, generated as they swim along, is released into the surrounding water and air via the dorsal fin - much like a radiator! Though there are different theories about their specific purpose, its a fact that dorsal fin collapse is far more prevalent in whales that are held in captivity. Dorsal Fin Collapse A wild orca often travels far, and quickly, in deep water. The water provides pressure to the fin, keeping the tissues inside healthy and straight. One theory as to why dorsal fins collapse in captivity is because the orca spends much of its time at the water surface and doesnt swim very far. This means that the fin tissue gets less support than it would if the orca were in the wild, and it starts to fall over. The whales also often swim in a repetitive circular pattern. Other potential causes for fin collapse may be dehydration and overheating of fin tissue  due to  warmer water and air temperatures, stress due to captivity or changes in diet,  reduced activity that causes low blood pressure, or age. SeaWorld of Hurt, a website operated by animal rights organization PETA, takes this stance, noting that dorsal fins of captive whales likely collapse Because they have no space in which to swim freely and are fed an unnatural diet of thawed dead fish. SeaWorld claims that this condition is common - however, in the wild, it rarely ever happens and is a sign of an injured or unhealthy orca. SeaWorld announced in 2016 that it would stop breeding whales in captivity immediately and  phase out killer whale shows  at all its parks by 2019. (In San Diego, the shows ended in 2017.) The company has said, however, that the shape of a killer whales dorsal fin is  not an indicator of its health. The dorsal fin is a structure like our ear, said Dr. Christopher Dold, SeaWorld’s head veterinarian: It doesnt have any bones in it whatsoever. So our whales spend a lot of time at the surface, and accordingly, tall, heavy dorsal fins (of adult male killer whales) without any bone in it, will slowly bend over and assume a different shape. Wild Orcas While less likely, it is not impossible for a wild orcas dorsal fin to collapse or become bent, and it may be a trait that varies among whale populations. A study of killer whales in New Zealand showed a relatively high rate - 23 percent - of collapsing, collapsed, or even bent or wavy dorsal fins. This was higher than that observed in populations in British Columbia or Norway, where only one male from the 30 studied had a fully collapsed dorsal fin, the study said. In 1989, the dorsal fins of two male killer whales collapsed after exposure to oil during the  Exxon Valdez  oil spill- the whales collapsed fins were thought to be a sign of poor health, as both whales died soon after the collapsed fins were documented. Researchers have theorized that dorsal fin collapse in wild whales may be due to age, stress, injury, or altercations with other killer whales.   Sources Matkin, C. O., and E. Saulitis. 1997. Restoration Notebook: Killer Whale (Orcinus orca). Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, Anchorage, Alaska.  National Marine Fisheries Service Northwest Regional Office. 2005. Proposed Conservation Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales, ). orcaOrcinusVisser, I.N. 1998. Prolific Body Scars and Collapsing Dorsal Fins on Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) in New Zealand Waters. Aquatic Mammals  24.2,71-81.

Future Computers essays

Future Computers essays Computer capabilities in the future-for a computer type Computer is a part of our nowadays world. More and more we become dependent on computers. So far computers havent overcame peoples brains, but in the near future computers will be more intelligent than we could ever dreamed about it. Soon every step that we make will be followed by computers. The main thing is, how it will affect peoples lives, worldviews, and thinking. Are we going to be dependent on our brains or will we have to depend only on computers? Future computers that see will change how we use consumer electronics and computing devices at home and work. For instance, your TV could pause the show you are watching without the need for a remote control. Just by seeing you get up to go get a beer, your TV would know you're leaving the room and no longer paying attention. Other applications might include a set of programs that help handicapped people control their PCs and all other connected devices in the home with head or eye movements. There could also be intuitive documents that sense when students are confused by "looking" at their facial expressions. Then, a computer might retrieve some supplemental information that could help the stumped student better understand the context of what he's reading. Computers created within the next two decades could revolve around a technology in which laser beams converge inside crystals the size of sugar cubes, forming holographic images for processing huge amounts of information. Perhaps by the year 2020, computers will revolve around new types of optical processors. These "holographic computers" might use crystals that receive and manipulate data-laden images, processing information much faster than conventional computers. Future computers will be more human oriented, knowing how to track the users' behaviors and habits, thus better serving their individual needs. With the new operating system, users will n...

GDP Expenditure Categories

GDP Expenditure Categories Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is generally thought of as a measure of an economys aggregate output or income, but, as it turns out, GDP also represents aggregate expenditure on an economys goods and services. Economists divide the spending on an economys goods and services into four components: Consumption, Investment, Government Purchases, and Net Exports. Consumption (C) Consumption, represented by the letter C, is the amount that households (i.e. not businesses or the government) spend on new goods and services. The one exception to this rule is housing since expenditure on new housing is placed in the investment category. This category counts all consumption spending regardless of whether the spending is on domestic or foreign goods and services, and the consumption of foreign goods is corrected for in the net exports category. Investment (I) Investment, represented by the letter I, is the amount that households and businesses spend on items that are used to make more goods and services. The most common form of investment is in capital equipment for businesses, but its important to remember that households purchases of new housing also counts as investment for GDP purposes. Like consumption, investment expenditure can be used to purchase capital and other items from either domestic or foreign producer, and this is corrected for in the net exports category. Inventory is another common investment category for businesses since items that are produced but not sold in a given time period are considered as having been purchased by the company that made them. Therefore, the accumulation of inventory is considered positive investment, and the liquidation of existing inventory is counted as negative investment. Government Purchases (G) In addition to households and businesses, the government can also consume goods and services and invest in capital and other items. These government purchases are represented by the letter G in the expenditure calculation. Its important to keep in mind that only government spending that goes towards producing goods and services is counted in this category, and transfer payments such as welfare and social security are not counted as government purchases for the purposes of GDP, mainly because transfer payments do not directly correspond to any type of production. Net Exports (NX) Net Exports, represented by NX, is simply equal to the amount of exports in an economy (X) minus the number of imports in that economy (IM), where exports are goods and services produced domestically but sold to foreigners and imports are goods and services produced by foreigners but purchased domestically. In other words, NX X - IM. Net exports is an important component of GDP for two reasons. First, items that are produced domestically and sold to foreigners should be counted in GDP, since these exports represent domestic production. Second, imports should be subtracted out from GDP since they represent foreign rather than domestic production but were allowed to sneak into the consumption, investment and government purchases categories. Putting the expenditure components together yields one of the most well-known macroeconomic identities: Y C I G NX In this equation, Y represents real GDP (i.e. domestic output, income, or expenditure on domestic goods and services) and the items on the right-hand side of the equation represent the components of expenditure listed above. In the US, consumption tends to be the largest component of GDP by far, followed by government purchases and then investment. Net exports tend to be negative because  the US typically imports more than it exports.

Health policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Health policy - Essay Example However, one may get care outside the network, but with an increased cost. POS involves a combination of the other two plans (HMO& PPPO). In this plan, there is the payment in advance. There is also a selection of care providers. However, services received outside this plan are paid back. In the past, the country had no well-developed health care policy. However, there were changes in the 1880’s. In this era, especially in 1882, some insurance companies started to offer individual disability and illness policies. There was no more development until the beginning of 20th century. In this era, there was the rise of modern health insurance plan. There was development of more benefits for various plans available. As it is today, there are various plans providing comprehensive coverage. The structures of the government are involved in setting health care policy. The three areas are executive, legislature and judiciary. The executive comes up with policies that are seen favorable to health care as a bill. Such policies/bills are sent to the legislature for consideration. Hence, the role of the legislature is to look for policies seen as a bill by the legislature. The legislature discusses the merits of the bill and if found favorable is adopted by the legislature. At this point, it is ready to be rolled out as a health care policy. The judiciary is concerned with resolving issues that may arise from various health care

Management Style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management Style - Essay Example Currently, the management of the firm is focused on the creation of management structures that will enable the expansion of its core strength as a global technology, electronic and entertainment company. The current Chief Executive Officer is Kazuo Hirai. The responsibility of the C.E.O is to run the firm’s business operations globally. Sony Corporation is a design and production intensive firm. The founders of the firm provided the platform for the current design management style used by the current managers (Nagasawa, 2013). Design management style uses design, project management, supply chain techniques and strategy to control a firm’s creative processes. The style is suitable to Sony because it establishes a structure and organization for design. It also supports a culture of creativity. Design management is based on the objective of developing and maintaining a business environment where companies and organizations can achieve their mission and strategic goals through design (Chang, 2011). Sony uses this style because of its strategic advantages in the establishment and management of effective and efficient system. Design management covers all areas of a business. These range from operational and strategic activities to the discovery phases and implementation phases. The management style encompasses ong oing processes, strategies that facilitate innovation and business decision making. Most importantly, design management works in hand with operational, marketing and strategic management. Sony’s design management approach is focused on asset management. In this case, the firm highly values its assets, which range from its innovative products, human resources and projects (Borja, 2003). Design management approaches asset management with an objective of creating value. The style also approaches attitude management with an aim of adjusting employee’s mental attitudes (Nagasawa, 2013).

Final Individual Share Performance Review Essay

Final Individual Share Performance Review - Essay Example The reason for choosing the company lies in the fact that it is one of the most well known financial companies in the UK. The report also recommends whether the nominal amount can be invested in Barclays for purchasing the shares and also sells it at the right time. Barclays Bank Plc. offers banking services to about 48 million customers and clients around the world by offering investing, lending and protecting their money. For more than 300 years it has worked as an expert in banking industry (Barclay, 2015b). Investing in Barclays is profitable as it aims at delivering return on equity to the customer, which is higher than the cost of equity (Barclay, 2015c). The future of the institution is based on the international banks, which has four core divisions such as Barclarcard, Personal and Corporate Banking, Investment Banking and Africa Banking (Barclay, 2015a). PEST analysis of banking industry in the UK is discussed henceforth, which helps in identifying the factors and may affect sustainability of Barclays Banks Plc. in the long run. The PEST analysis will help in determining whether the external environment will affect the business of Barclays, which will in turn reduce the rate of return on the investment of  £10,000. Political: The stability of UK government affects the business of Barclays to a great extent. Government interference is the key risk that can be encountered by the banking industry in the UK. Hence, like Barclays, other financial institutions such as HSBC and Morgan Stanley have the responsibility to abide by the rules that are formulated by the present government. Hence, the change in power has the ability to affect the business of the banks. Moreover, it is observed that the regulatory environment in the UK is unstable. The Basel rules based on the bank capital requires the banks to hold quality core tier capital equal to 10% of the assets, which is adjusted by risk (European Commission, 2015). Economic: The gross domestic

Budgeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Budgeting - Essay Example Budgets are not always made for a fixed period, some budgets are created by adding a few more months to ensure that the total tenure for which the budget has been made spans over a total of twelve months. Another type of such estimation is known as a forecast. A forecast is a budget that modifies in the middle of the year to make a new/mini budget which is for a period of 3 months or 6 months. By making a budget, a company gets the following advantages: It ensures that the resources are being used in conformity with the goals of the company. It ensures that there are proper controls over the use of resources. It can help in ensuring that the departments of the company are engaged constructively with each other. It acts as a way of evaluating the performance of managers of the company - by comparing their achievements with the budgeted performance (Collier, 2010). Budget Cycle: In a budget cycle, a budget is first planned and then performances are controlled on its basis. In this proc ess, a plan is first developed to manage the finances of the company. This plan is then made the benchmark against which the performance is compared. If the performance is below the budgets estimations, reasons for deviation are found out and measures are taken to ensure that the work performed conforms to the standard set in the budget. Working with the Budget throughout the Budget Cycle As the person in charge of the department of finance, it is obvious that you are going to be a part of every step that is taken when the budgets are prepared. These steps include the following: 1. Planning and Development Planning and development is the first step of the budget cycle. When budgets are made, people involved in the preparation consider the present financial situation to make future estimations; they do not disregard the previous historic data relating to the product or departments. To ensure that the budgets are as accurate as possible, they encourage the people who are involved in t he daily financial dealings of the products to give their inputs. This is because these people are the specialists of the products they work with every day; thus, they will be able to give a better idea of the estimated revenue, expenses, etc. 2. Implementation After a budget has been prepared and loaded into the finance system, it is now the time to implement it. However, before the implementation stage is started, it is imperative to ensure that the correct budget has been loaded. In case of any kind of an ambiguity, it is always advisable to get in touch with a professional accountant. 3. Monitoring a. Revenue and Expense Statement Detail In order to ensure that each fund has its FOPPS, the report that shows the entire details of the expenses incurred and revenue earned is required to be reconciled on a monthly basis. i. All the amounts for expenses incurred during the year, transfers made and revenue earned must be compared with the original document on the basis of which the en try was made and the transaction went through. ii. Once the mistakes are identified, they must be removed as soon as possible. b. Revenue and Expense Statement Summary To make sure that the company has a full control over the operations going on, the statement that shows the summary of the revenue earned and expenses incurred is required to be seen monthly. i. The actual amounts of expenses incurred