MARINE MAMMALS
Study Guide
and
Review
Marine Mammal and Order Pinnipedia
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6 characteristics of being a marine mammal.
3 examples of pinnipeds
What does pinniped mean?
3 purposes of the adaptation of blubber
What is the largest pinniped?
Modified upper canine teeth into long tusks which are seen in
both sexes?
Rarest and most endangered of all pinnipeds; one of the orginis
of the mermaid myth?
Mature males develop a large inflatable proboscis?
Pups are called “whitecoats” and are born without protective
fat?
Most common seal seen along the eastern U.S. Coast?
Identify three external differences
between seals and sea lions.
California Sea Lion
Mediterranean Monk Seal
Northern Elephant Seal
Harp Seal
Harbor Seal
Order Carnivoria
1. In what year did conservation efforts start because the sea otter
was close to extinction?
2. The polar bear is the world’s largest ______ ?
3. Polar bears are excellent swimmers and capable of swimming up
to ____ miles at one time.
4. What is the polar bear’s favorite meal to hunt?
5. What color is the polar bear’s skin?
6. The best strategy the polar bear can use is called ____ hunting
where it remains motionless.
7. What sense (sight / smell) do polar bears use when hunting?
8. By the year 2050, what percentage of polar bears will disappear
as a result of climate change?
Sea Otter
Polar Bear
Order Sirenia
1. Name the closest relatives.
2. The largest sirenian of all that is now extinct?
Manatee
Dugong
Order Cetacea
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Define convergent evolution.
Example of convergent evolution between cetaceans and fish.
Another name for muscular tail?
Two groups of cetaceans and define. (know common examples)
Define and describe baleen.
Largest baleen whale? Largest toothed whale?
Define great whales.
Toothed whale believed to give rise to the legend of the unicorn?
Define IWC and MMPA?
Order Cetacea – Echolocation
• marine mammals depend little on smell but have excellent
vision and hearing
• echolocation is nature’s version of sonar
• marine mammals echolocate by emitting sound waves,
which travel 5 times faster in water than in air, and listen
for the echoes reflecting back from surrounding objects
• echolocation is used to find prey and orient to the
surroundings
• A fatty structure on the forehead of toothed whales, the melon,
appears to focus and direct the outgoing sound waves.
• The melon is also known to receive the echoes and transmit them to
the ears, but most are received by the lower jaw.
Order Cetacea – Behavior
• brain has evolved as an association center for complex
behaviors in which learning, not instinct, dominates
• sounds, or vocalizations, play a prominent role in
communication, which is different from the sounds used
for echolocation
• the humpback whale is renowned for its soulful songs
which are sung during breeding season
• breaching – leaping up in the air and loudly crashing on the
surface
• beached whales die because their internal organs collapse
without the support of the water
• connections between naval sonar exercises and increased
whale strandings
Order Cetacea – Echolocation
C. Humpback Whale
G. Blue Whale
H. Grey Whale
J. Common Dolphin
K. Spinner Dolphin
O. Beluga Whale
P. Killer Whale
Q. Narwhal
S. Sperm Whale