Thursday, March 31, 2011

Sea Squirts

Sea squirts were first found in the Northern Native waters, and are now world wide.  In the New England area they range from Virginia to Maine.  Each year the amount of Sea Squirts doubles in an area.  They are one of the most common non-native species in the New England area.
    They change out ecosystem, by killing and eating our food they we fish for everyday.  Such as oysters and mussels, they will go into their shells and squeeze them until they die and eat their bodies, and using their shells as a home.  By killing the animals we fish, they are making it so we have limited product to fish, and so we don't have enough to feed our families.
  They usually pray on smaller animals such as mussels, oysters, and baby fish.  When going after a baby fish or a mussel or clam, they wrap their bodies around the species, and release a toxic substance into the bodies killing them instantly.  After killing the animals, they later take over their habitat.
  There really isn't anything people can do to reduce the impact of Sea squirts only because they are so wide spread, and they keep coming and coming.  Even if they tried to get rid of them, all it takes is one little one left behind to keep reproducing and they grow more and more and keep spreading. They are not harming man kind, so there is no reason to harm them.

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