Chapter 12: Marine Mammals By: Da Lynne Cousar, Megan Dudenbostel, Kyle Nemeth, Matt Boyle, and Steven Miller
Four different kinds of Marine Mammals Cetaceans- includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises Pinnipeds- semiaquatic; spend most of their time in the water but go onto land for many important activities like mating, breeding, or moulting Sirenians- fully aquatic herbivorous mammals Fissipeds- Group of carnivores with separate fingers
Sea Otters Live in Northern Pacific Ocean from the coast of California to the Aleutian Islands Diet: sea urchins, crustaceans, and mollusks Use rocks as weapons to crack open shells Eat while floating on their backs Have five fingered forelimbs and finlike feet Predators: sharks and killer whales
Polar Bears Live in the Arctic Region One of the top predators and mostly feed on seals Excellent swimmers but aren t agile in the water, so they don t swim when hunting Males can reach lengths of 3 meters and weigh up to 1,600 lbs Multiple ways of staying warm Currently endangered with an estimated population of 40,000
Whales Whales can be found Arctic and Antarctic oceans They eat fish, squid, crabs Life span over 200 years Adapted for diving While diving the animals metabolism decrease. The heart rate slows as low as 10% or normal from 100 beats per minute Cetaceans are intelligent inquisitive animals thats exhibit a wide range of interesting behavior
Whales Spy hopping Whales sometimes stick their heads up and out the water and survey their surroundings. This behavior is known as spy hopping. During spy hopping the whale uses there strong flukes to push itself out of the water Breaching Refers to a behavior in which whales completely and almost leave the water. They begin this behavior under water by swimming quickly accelerating as they go Sometimes a whale breaches several times in a row. A behavior called serial breaching. Serial breaching is usually observed in whales that babe started to become active or excited Slapping Whales like to lift their huge tail to the surface and slap it down it makes a great sound. This behavior is called Tail slapping.
Baleen Whales Baleen Whales Def. Whales that have enormous mouths to accommodate plates of baleen, which takes the place of teeth. Baleen Def. A proteinaceous structure used to strain food from the water, it takes the place of teeth in the baleen whales. Baleen is made out of keratin, same protein found in hair, claws, nails, etc. Baleen are large whales, the Blue Whale and the fin whales are both baleen whales and one of the largest animals in the world.
Baleen Whales The baleen plates are a thin, strong, flexible, and hard wearing attribute. Mostly eat krill and other small organisms can have up to 395 plates that hang from the upper jaw Can mate when 6-10 years old communicate through low frequency sounds (that in some whales) can travel pole to pole
Sirenians (Manatees) Live in freshwater and come up for air Herbivores eat sea grasses and other aquatic vegetation Feed in herds of tens or hundreds of individuals Pregnancy lasts about 1 year Poor eyesight but great sense of hearing Have very few predators Sharks, Alligators, and crocodiles
Pinnipeds (seals) Have 4 webbed flippers Have fur that is shed and blubber to keep warm Are found in the cold waters of the Northern and Southern hemispheres Carnivores Feed on fish and marine invertebrates Predators are killer whales, sharks, and polar bears spend most of time in water but come ashore to mate, give birth, molt or escape from predators
Toothed Whales The toothed whales form an infraorder of the artiodactyl suborder Cetacea, including sperm whales, beaked whales, dolphins, and others Aggressive hunters and many of the species are known to hunt in cooperative groups or teams to isolate and capture their prey.
Orcas Is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin Diet consists of fish, squid, seals, sea lions, penguins, dolphins, porpoises and large whales like the blue whale. Some have been known to slide on to beaches in order to capture a good meal Can weigh as much as 22,000 pounds
Dolphins Dolphins are cetacean mammals closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 All dolphins have teeth but they don't chew their food, they just bite and swallow!), Eat only fish a favourite being salmon Life span 40 years
Porpoise Porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae They are related to whales and dolphins. They are distinct from dolphins, although the word "porpoise" has been used to refer to any small dolphin, especially by sailors and fishermen Lifespan 8-10 years Weigh around 130 pounds
Beaked Whales Beaked whales are the members of the family Ziphiidae which consists of 22 species. These toothed whales are notable for their elongated beaks Weigh around 26,400 pounds Lifespan 54 to 84 years