Bycatch
This animal is one of the most commonly bycaught marine mammal species
What is the harbor porpoise or the common dolphin?
This structure is what helps sirenians differentiate between types of food in their environment
What are vibrissae?
This is the term for lack of oxygen, which is faced frequently by ice seals due to their extended durations of diving
What is hypoxia?
This US location is where manatee tourism is the most popular
Where is Florida’s Gulf Coast?
This many tourists visit the arctic regions each year
What is 66 million?
One example of an organization in the US which helps to reduce bycatch
What is the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Marine Mammal Commission, or Take Reduction Teams?
This adaptation contributes to feeding in benthic seagrass environments
What is a downturned mouth?
This is the term for lack of oxygen, which is faced frequently by ice seals due to their extended durations of diving
What is hypoxia?
These two factors lead to the greatest loss of manatee life
What are starvation caused by polluted water and boat strikes?
Most of the tourist visiting the ice seals during their mating season are from this country
Where is Japan?
This equipment is the highest risk form of fishing gear for marine mammal bycatch
What is a gillnet
Sirenians lost these when they transitioned from terrestrial to aquatic environments
What are hindlimbs?
These are the type of kidneys found in ice seals that have increased surface area to enhance their osmotic ability while diving
What are reniculate kidneys?
These two legal barriers prohibit direct contact with manatees
What is Florida state law and the Marine Mammal Protection Act?
These two climate-change factors have increased the accessibility of the polar regions to tourists
What are the opening of arctic channels in melting ice and the moderating of extreme cold?
The phenomenon in which deaths go undetected at fisheries or would be undetected even if observers are onboard fishing vessels
What is cryptic mortality
This type of bone contributes to the buoyancy of sirenians
What is pachyostosis/osteosclerosis (thick/dense bones)?
This structure in the heart of ice seals and other diving mammals is enlarged to maintain adequate blood pressure and slow the heart rate
What is the aortic bulb?
In 2021, Florida lost this percent of its manatee population
What is 13 percent?
This Canadian archipelago is the location for the meeting of thousands of harp seals every February and March
What is Îles-de-la-Madeleine?
The number of marine mammals estimated to be bycaught each year around the world
What is 500,000
The lack of this in the skull of sirenians indicates they do not have strong jaw muscles
What is the sagittal crest?
This species of ice seal builds snow lairs to house their pups during nursing season
What are ringed seals?
This tourist option is touted as a new form of sustainable tourism that allows viewing while minimizing direct contact
What are boardwalk sightings?
Polar tourism is hurting its own future profitability through these two impacts
What are the shrinking of snow cover and sea ice and the frightening of local wildlife?