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Marine Mammals

Life Science - Middle School

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Marine mammals include whales, dolphins, porpoises, manatees, dugongs, seals, sea lions, fur seals, walruses and otters. Even polar bears are sometimes considered marine mammals because they depend on the ocean for their seal diet. Marine mammals come in all shapes and sizes, from the massive blue whale to the small sea otter. Some, like whales and dolphins, have no body hair. This adaptation helps them move quickly through water. They make up for the lack of warm fur by having blubber to help them stay warm in cold ocean waters. Like all mammals, they breathe air through lungs, are warm-blooded, give birth to live young and feed them on milk. Like mammals on land, marine mammals have a varied diet. Dolphins travel throughout the open ocean eating fish, squid and crabs, while walruses live on rocky arctic coasts eating shellfish, clams and mussels. Leopard seals in Antarctica eat penguins. Manatees are the only vegetarian marine mammal, grazing on plants along warm coastlines. Blue whales, the largest marine mammal (and largest animal on Earth), eat one of the smallest prey – tiny shrimp-like krill, filtered from the water through baleen plates instead of teeth. Whales and dolphins are considered some of the most intelligent animals on Earth. Their curiosity, intelligence and grace in the water have fascinated people worldwide. Though they are protected by the 1972 Marine Mammal Act, many marine mammals are endangered from overhunting, pollution and habitat loss. (1) Blue Whale – 100 feet long, 300,000 pounds (2) Sperm Whale – 60 feet long, 100,000 pounds (3) Humpback Whale – 52 feet long, 100,000 pounds (4) Killer Whale – 20-30 feet long, 20,000 pounds (5) Narwhal – 20 feet long, 2,000 pounds (6) Beluga – 14 feet long, 2,000 pounds (7) Manatee – 14 feet long, 2,000 pounds (8) Dolphin – 12 feet long, 1,400 pounds (9) Walrus – 10 feet long, 2,600 pounds (10) Leopard Seal – 10 feet long, 1,000 pounds (11) Harbor Seal – 6 feet long, 300 pounds (12) Sea Otter – 4 feet long, 75-100 pounds 4 1 3 5 8 9 6 7 10 11 12 2 Amsel Marine Mammals

94-4066 Amsel 4 1 3 5 8 9 6 7 10 11 12 2 Marine mammals include whales, dolphins, porpoises, manatees, dugongs, seals, sea lions, fur seals, walruses and otters. Even ____________________ ____________________ are sometimes considered marine mammals because they depend on the ocean for their seal diet. Marine mammals come in all shapes and sizes, from the massive blue whale to the small sea _____________________. Some, like whales and dolphins, have no body ____________________. This adaptation helps them move quickly through water. They make up for the lack of warm fur by having ____________________ to help them stay warm in cold ocean waters. Like all mammals, they breathe air through ____________________, are ____________________-blooded, give birth to live young and feed them on _____________________. Like mammals on land, marine mammals have a varied diet. Dolphins travel throughout the open ocean eating fish, squid and crabs, while walruses live on rocky arctic coasts eating shellfish, clams and mussels. Leopard seals in Antarctica eat penguins. Manatees are the only vegetarian marine mammal, grazing on plants along warm coastlines. _____________________ whales, the largest marine mammal (and largest animal on Earth), eat one of the smallest prey – tiny shrimp-like _____________________, filtered from the water through baleen ____________________ instead of teeth. Whales and dolphins are considered some of the most intelligent animals on Earth. Marine Mammals 1 ___________________________ 2 ___________________________ 3 ___________________________ 4 ___________________________ 5 ___________________________ 6 ___________________________ 7 ___________________________ 8 ___________________________ 9 ___________________________ 10 ___________________________ 11 ___________________________ 12 ___________________________

Marine Mammals

Life Science - Middle School

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