Do agree or disagree with the following statesments. Give specific reasons to prove your answer.

1. To preserve remaining number of these species we need only serious fishing restrictions that would put an end to overfishing.

2. Overfishing is not a serious threat to sharks since sharks have tendency to grow quickly.

3. Loss of only one shark species could cause severe changes in many marine ecosystems, and loss of several shark species could have fatal consequences on entire biodiversity.

Match the two colomns to make word combinations:

conservation shark marine shark marine protection threatening healthy

predators organizations sanctuary areas ecosystems extinction species environments

Make your own sentences with these collocations.

11. Read the text and translate it.

Climate change causing problem to breeding of sea turtles

Climate change is causing damage to many animal species around the globe, and famous sea turtles are one of the most affected species. The latest study has revealed that sea turtles could have severe difficulties with breeding in years to come, once climate change impact becomes stronger.

Every year at certain point of time sea turtles come to lay their eggs in the sand. Little they are aware of triple threat that is coming with climate change, in form of cyclones, rising seas and warming temperatures.

Scientists have studies the world's largest population of sea turtles in Australia's northern Great Barrier Reef, and they have concluded that blazing hot sands presents the greatest threat to the animals' breeding success over the long term. Short-term speaking sea level rise is likely to cause the most damage to breeding of sea turtles but by 2070, sands in many areas will be so hot that eggs will not be able to survive, and sea turtles will likely face extinction.

Sea turtles play very important role in marine ecosystems, and balance of these ecosystems will be severely damaged once these peace-loving animals stop grazing kelp and algae.

The effects of warming are already obvious, and the fascinating fact with the sea turtles is that sand temperatures play major role in determining the sex ratio of turtle eggs. Warmer temperatures of the sand do not only more females, but also reduced hatchling success, and more deformities. If temperatures of the sand rise above 91 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius), then the eggs die.

Since climate change impact is unlikely to be stopped we must look for alternative solutions like installing shady areas on the beach, replanting vegetation along beach edges to get more shades, or relocating eggs to cooler places. If we fail to come up with the adequate conservation efforts, then sea turtles will likely go extinct.

Work in groups. Group A reads the text Endangered animals - Sea turtles. Group B reads the text Why are sea turtles in big trouble these days? After reading exchange the information and discuss the problem.

Text A Endangered animals - Sea turtles

Sea turtles have their habitats in all the world's oceans except the Arctic ocean. At this moment there are seven species of sea turtles in the world. Sadly, six species are being listed as endangered species. Sea turtles have been on Earth since Mesozoic but because of us humans they are brought at the brink of extinction.

Sea turtles are not only amazingly beautiful, they are also very advanced creatures with extraordinary sense for time and location and they use Earth's magnetic field as their navigational system. It takes them 30 years to mature, and this is the only time when adult female sea turtles return to the land to nest. Depending on turtle species, female sea turtle can nest between 150-200 eggs with incubation lasting about two months. Only about 0,01 % of this eggs have an actual chance to become a grown turtle one day because of many predators that lurk around.

Sea turtles are hunted almost everywhere on the world map, despite the fact that their hunting is illegal in many countries. More often than not they become food in fancy restaurants around the world. Even in ancient times sea turtles were famous as exotic delicacies (China). Meat is not the only reason for their excessive hunting, their shells for instance are traditional decorative ornamental material often used in Japan and China.

What people fail to see is the significance of these lovely creatures in ecosystems, not only in oceans but also on the beaches. If these wonderful creatures were to become extinct it could cause tremendous negative impact on ecosystems in oceans and on the beaches. Two species are already critically endangered - Kemp's Ridley and Hawksbill turtles, and two other species Olive Ridley, and Green turtles aren't very far from being listed as critically endangered.

Their importance is just as vital in oceans as it is on beaches. Turtles eat sea grass in ocean, and sea grass must be kept short to remain healthy; beds of healthy sea grass are essential breeding and development areas for many species of fish and other marine life, and in beaches they contribute nutrients to beach vegetation from their eggs.

Many countries have realized the significance of these wonderful creatures and are already working on laws and legislation that would mean their survival. Sea turtle conservation started in 1970's and 1980's but with no significant success because many turtles still end up in turtle soups and some other delicacies.

In order to help these creatures scientists studied their migration, nesting habits, hatching habits and mating habits to help us learn more about them so we could save them from extinction. But will that be enough? Only time will tell, but current situation doesn't give us much hope.