Characteristics of Pinnipeds
These marine mammals are defined by their flippers and semi-aquatic lifestyle.
What are pinnipeds?
This pinniped is known for its long tusks.
What is a walrus?
Pinnipeds are commonly found in this type of environment where land meets ocean.
What are coastal regions?
This thick layer of fat keeps pinnipeds warm in cold oceans.
What is blubber?
Pinnipeds play this role by hunting fish and squid.
What are predators?
Pinnipeds are warm-blooded, breathe air, and feed their young with this.
What is milk?
This type of pinniped includes animals like the harbor seal.
What are earless (true) seals?
Many pinnipeds rest, breed, and give birth in these land-based areas.
What are beaches, rocky shores, or ice floes?
These body parts help pinnipeds swim efficiently.
What are flippers?
By feeding on fish, pinnipeds help maintain this in ocean ecosystems.
What is population balance?
This structural difference separates true seals from sea lions.
What are external ear flaps (sea lions have them, true seals don’t)?
California sea lions are a well-known example of this group.
What are eared seals (sea lions)?
Some pinnipeds, like walruses, are commonly found in this cold region.
What is the Arctic?
These sensitive whiskers help detect prey in dark or murky water.
What are vibrissae (whiskers)?
These animals, like sharks and orcas, prey on pinnipeds.
What are apex predators?
Pinnipeds belong to this larger animal class.
What are mammals?
This large species is known as the elephant seal due to its size and trunk-like nose.
What is an elephant seal?
This behavior describes when pinnipeds leave the water to rest on land.
What is hauling out?
This adaptation allows pinnipeds to stay underwater for long periods.
What is the ability to store oxygen and slow heart rate while diving?
Pinnipeds are an important part of this system involving energy transfer between organisms.
What is the food chain (or food web)?
Unlike fish, pinnipeds must do this regularly to survive.
What is come to the surface to breathe air?
This Arctic pinniped relies heavily on sea ice and uses tusks to pull itself up.
What is a walrus?
Pinnipeds must live near water because they rely on it for this main activity.
What is hunting/feeding?
Sea lions can do this with their hind flippers, helping them move on land.
What is rotate them under their bodies?
If pinniped populations declined, it could disrupt this in marine ecosystems.
What is ecological balance?