Identified by the lateral stripes that originate at their eyes, the striped dolphins are sometimes seen swimming alongside large ships off California and in the Atlantic, a behavior known as bow-riding.
In the eastern tropical Pacific, where they are also found, they tend to be shyer.
These dolphins are energetic swimmers, sometimes moving upside down and jumping as high as twenty feet (6 m) out of the water to do backward somersaults.
Social animals, they are commonly found in schools of up to five hundred individuals.
The size of the school depends on geographic location; those from the western Pacific, where they are more abundant, tend to be much larger than the groups in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
Schools may be classified according to age and breeding status.
Name: Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
Family: Balaenopteridae (Rorquals)
Range: All major oceans of world
Habitat: Open ocean
Diet: Krill, other planktonic species, and small fish
Total Length: 79 to 89 feet (24 to 27 m); historically much larger
Weight: 220,000 to 330,000 pounds (100,000 to 150,000 kg); historically much larger
Life Cycle: Mating depends on locale; gestation 300 to 330 days, one calf born
Description: Slate to grayish blue skin; mottled with lighter spots; belly has yellowish tinge; short dorsal fin; wide upper jaw; blunt rostrum; throat grooves from chin to beyond naval
Conservation Status: Endangered
Major Threat: Habitat loss; poaching; pollution
What Can I Do?: Visit The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and The Ocean Conservancy for information on how you can help.
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 Order: Salmoniformes, Family: Salmonidae Typically spend the first year of their life in fresh water. Upon moving to the ocean, growth increases dramatically. At about the third year, coho salmon reach maturity.
They weigh from 6 to 12 pounds and can be up to 38 inches in length.
Oncorhynchus kisutch are deep-bodied salmon with unique color characteristics. The dorsal surface is a metallic blue while the sides are a silver color....
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 Order: Sirenia, Family: Trichechidae The Amazon Basin of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana and Peru.
The Amazon ox manatee is gray and bears a white patch on its chest or several white markings on its chest and abdomen. Its body is covered with fine hairs and its upper and lower lips are covered with thick bristles. It has two mammary glands near its armpits.
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 The manatee, often called the sea cow, is the only exclusively herbivorous marine mammal. It grazes on all kinds of aquatic plants, especially marine sea grasses, assisted by its large prehensile lips, which are studded with bristles.
During the day, it is frequently found close to the surface, sleeping within the top three to ten feet (1 to 3 m). Occasionally it swims down to thirty feet (10 ...
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 Well, their brains, of course. Dolphins have large brains for their bodies — in fact, a bottlenose dolphin is second only to humans in the ratio of brain size to body size. Researchers have also pointed to the parallels in the organization of dolphin and primate brains as more evidence of high intelligence in dolphins. Some have gone so far as to suggest that dolphins actually have a language that...
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 Unlike any other mammal, dolphin babies are born tail first!
Dolphins have very little sense of smell!
A mother dolphin will stay with a calf for two to three years!
Dolphins, like cows, have two stomachs — one for storing food and one for digesting it!
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 Order: Carnivora, Family: Mustelidae Male sea otters average 5 feet and 70 pounds; females average 4 feet and 60 pounds.
They are dark brown with lighter heads that turn grayish white with age.
Sea Otters live in shallow coastal waters, especially kelp beds.
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