tpo34

The reading and lecture both discuss extinction of sea cows in the 1741. Although we are not known the exact reason about this theory, the reading gives some reasons on extinction of sea cows. However, the professor in the lecture rejects all theories, and he says these reasons are not convincing.

First, the reading states that native people hunted cow seas for food, so after a while they became extinct. In contrast, the professor explains that at that time the population of the sea cows were huge. In addition, the small number of native people lived in the island. therefore, they did not hunt all of sea cows because they did not need a lot of food.

Second, the reading claims that sea cows feed kelp, so when the population of kelp reduced by changing the ecosystem, sea cows did not have enough food to survive, and then became extinct. On the contrary, the professor mentions that ecosystem affect all of the species and marines, not just kelps. therefore, if this reason was true, the population of whales who eat fishes would decrease too, but they grew very well. As a result, this was not happened because of the lack of food resources.

Third, the reading suggests that when european fur traders arrived to the island, after that the population of sea cows decreased because they caught them quickly. On the other hand, the professor cites that before arriving the european the population of them was small. Actually, some years before arriving them they were less. As a result, the extinction of them was not related to the arriving european.