Marine mammal
hideMarine mammals are a diverse group of roughly 120 species of mammal that are primarily ocean-dwelling or depend on the ocean for food. They include the cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), the sirenians (manatees and dugong), the pinnipeds (true seals, eared seals and walrus), and several otters (the sea otter and marine otter). The polar bear, while not aquatic, is also usually considered a marine mammal because it lives on sea ice for most or all of the year.
Marine mammals evolved from land dwelling ancestors and share several adaptive features for life at sea such as generally large size, hydrodynamic body shapes, modified appendages and various thermoregulatory adaptations. Different species are, however, adapted to marine life to varying degrees. The most fully adapted are the cetaceans and the sirenians, which cannot live on land.
Despite the fact that marine mammals are highly recognizable charismatic megafauna, many populations are vulnerable or endangered due to a history of commercial exploitation for blubber, meat, ivory and fur. Most species are currently protected from commercial exploitation.
For more information about Marine mammal, read the full article at
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News tagged with marine mammal
Zoning the ocean may help endangered whales to recover
Dec 16, 2009 |
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Scientists in Scotland, Canada and the US have proposed a new method to identify priority areas for whale conservation. The team's findings, published in Animal Conservation, suggest that even small protected areas, identi ...
Crew plans to cut rope to free Hawaii whale
Dec 04, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Marine sanctuary officials planned to return to Hawaii waters with modified equipment Friday to try to cut loose a young humpback whale entangled in several hundred yards of heavy plastic rope.
Sharks under threat as environmental change bites hard
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Their size and fearsome appearance have made them the stuff of nightmares, but new research just published suggests that sharks may not be as tough as they appear.
Feds give sea otters habitat protection in Alaska
Oct 08, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Four years after being placed on the Endangered Species List, the dwindling sea otters of southwest Alaska on Wednesday were given an important recovery tool.
Albatross camera reveals fascinating feeding interaction with killer whale
Oct 07, 2009 |
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Scientists from British Antarctic Survey, National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, and Hokkaido University, Japan, have recorded the first observations of how albatrosses feed alongside marine mammals ...
Research finds higher acidity in Alaska waters
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 24, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Erosion threatens to topple coastal Alaskan villages. Melting ice threatens polar bears. Now, a marine scientist says the state's marine waters are turning acidic from absorbing greenhouse gases faster ...
Man indicted in death of Hawaiian monk seal
Aug 06, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A federal grand jury has indicted a 78-year-old Kauai man in the shooting death of an endangered Hawaiian monk seal in May.
All in sight: Scientists test infrared system for the protection of whales
Jul 02, 2009 |
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A new measurement system for the detection of whales is used for the first time on board of the research vessel Polarstern. Whales are usually difficult to spot. On the one hand, they spend the greater part ...
Natural-born divers and the molecular traces of evolution
Jun 29, 2009 |
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An aquatic lifestyle imposes serious demands for the organism, and this is true even for the tiniest molecules that form our body. When the ancestors of present marine mammals initiated their return to the oceans, their ...
'Bycatch' whaling a growing threat to coastal whales
Jun 23, 2009 |
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Scientists are warning that a new form of unregulated whaling has emerged along the coastlines of Japan and South Korea, where the commercial sale of whales killed as fisheries "bycatch" is threatening coastal stocks of minke ...
Sick sea critters aided by Marine Mammal Center
Jun 14, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A recent surge in weakened and malnourished sea lions found along the Northern California coast is mystifying scientists and keeping workers hopping at the newly expanded Marine Mammal Center here.
Hawaiian Islands named habitat for endangered seal
Jun 12, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The federal government on Friday will significantly expand the critical habitat for endangered Hawaiian monk seals to include beaches and waters of the main Hawaiian Islands, officials said.
Thieving whale caught on video gives rare clues about hunting strategy, sound production
May 21, 2009 |
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For decades scientists have been intrigued by the variety of sounds emitted by sperm whales, partly due to a popular theory that suggests that the sounds might contain information about the animals' size. ...
Skip this cocktail party: Contaminants in marine mammals' brains
May 20, 2009 |
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The most extensive study of pollutants in marine mammals' brains reveals that these animals are exposed to a hazardous cocktail of pesticides such as DDTs and PCBs, as well as emerging contaminants such as brominated flame ...
Blue whales returning to former Alaska waters
May 18, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Blue whales are returning to Alaska in search of food and could be re-establishing an old migration route several decades after they were nearly wiped out by commercial whalers, scientists say.
