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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 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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 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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 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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 Harp seals migrate in large groups as much as five thousand miles (8,000 km) from feeding grounds in the north to breeding grounds in the south.
They spend about half the year in the north, feeding on fish and invertebrates.
In the spring, thousands of females congregate on pack ice to give birth and nurse their white-furred pups.
Following weaning, the pups shed their white fur, which...
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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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 This seal gets its common name from the numerous dark spots on its coat.
The name leopard seal, though, is sometimes also applied to other spotted seals, such as the Weddell's seal.
A solitary seal, it has huge canine teeth and massive jaws.
Generally it feeds on krill, which it strains from the water with its specialized teeth.
It is the only seal that preys on warm-blooded animals; i...
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