Categories of Marine Mammals
This group includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises
The largest animal on Earth and is a baleen whale
What is a blue whale?
Baleen whales use these comb-like structures to filter food from the water
What are baleen plates?
This slow-moving gentle marine mammal is often called a "sea cow"
What is a manatee?
This mammal can sleep with only half its brain at a time
What is a dolphin?
Seals, sea lions, and walruses belong to this marine mammal group
What are pinnipeds?
These toothed whales use echolocation to hunt squid in deep water
What are sperm whales?
This layer of fat beneath the skin provides insulation, buoyancy, and energy storage
What is blubber?
This playful dolphin species is famous for riding bow waves and staring in marine-life shows
This marine mammal has the densest fur of any animal- over a million hairs per square inch
What is the sea otter?
Manatees and dugongs are part of this herbivorous mammal group
What are sirenians?
This Ocean dolphin species is known for its tall dorsal fin and matriarchal pods
What is the killer whale or orca?
Toothed whales use this biological sonar to navigate and hunt
What is echolocation?
Known for its long spiraled tusk, this is the "unicorn of the sea" is a typed of toothed whale
What is the narwhal?
This Artic whale has no dorsal fin- an adaptation to swimming under sea ice
What is the beluga whale?
This fur-being animals is the smallest marine mammal but is known for using tools
What is the sea otter?
Unlike dolphins, this cetacean group has space-shaped teeth, no beaks, and short compact bodies
What is a porpoise?
These sensative whiskers help seals detect itny vibrations in the water
What are vibrissae?
This elusive porpoise is the most endangered marine mammal on the planet
What is the Vaquita?
This seal can dive over 5,000 feet deep and hold its breath for more than two hours
What is the elephant seal?
Although they spend much time on ice, these Artic predators are legally classified as marine mammals
What are polar bears?
This group of cetaceans includes, right, grey, and bowhead whales and feeds using baleen plates
What are mysticetes?
This horizontal strcuture on a whale or dolphin's back helps stabilize the animal as it swims, though not all species have one
This whale is known for its dramatic annual miragtions and sings complex songs audible for miles
What is the humpback whale?
This baleen whale can create bubble "nets" to trap schools of fish before feeding
What is the humpback whale?