TPO 10 Integrated Writing

The lecture and the reading passage give contradictory opinions on the topic of the decline of the sea otters, the explanation of the decline is environment pollution or predator attacks. The author gives arguments in favor of the former, nevertheless, challenged by the professor with a counterpoint and well-structured analysis.

Firstly, although the author believes that the sea otters were killed by industrial chemical pollution basing on water samples with increasing levels of chemicals, the professor refutes that argument by pointing out the absence of dead sea otters which were washed to shore. If the otters were killed by chemical pollution, there must be observable dead otters, while the preyed otters are on the contrary.

Secondly, the professor posits, since the predators of the otters can change their diet, that is, preying other animals to ensure the food supplication, the decline of a variety of animals cannot only be due to the chemical pollution, which is incongruous with the author.

Lastly, the professor asserts that we can clarify the uneven pattern of otter decline through the predation theory rather than pollution. She contends that the accessibility of a location for predators is the decisive factor regarding the decline of otters. For instance, the shallow and rocky locations are hard to access, while the number of otters is scarcely reduced there.