Other Marine Mammals

Order Carnivora – Suborder Pinnipedia

• Seals, sea lions, walruses• Pinniped means “feather foot”• Paddle shaped flippers and hind limbs

for swimming and moving on land• Return to shore – “haul out” – to rest,

mate and raise pups

Order Carnivora – Suborder Pinnipedia

• Evolved from same line as bears• Largest = male northern elephant

seal – 8,000 lbs., feeds on sharks, skates, fish, squid

Order Carnivora – Suborder Pinnipediaseals vs sea lions

Seals Sea LionsHind flippers for swimming – front flippers short

Front flippers longer for swimming

Cannot turn hind flippers under body - useless for walking – awkward on land

Can turn hind flippers under body - to walk on land

No ear flap – just hole Visible external ear flaps

Usually in colder waters – thick blubber layer

Usually in warmer waters – less blubber

Not trainable – not in shows Trainable – in shows

Order Carnivora – Suborder Pinnipediaseals vs sea lions

sea lion seal

California sea lion Harbor seal

Order Carnivora – Suborder Pinnipediawalruses

• Larger than seals and sea lions• Weigh up to 2 tons• Tusks help search for food (clams and

mussels) and pull bodies on ice floes• Thick blubber layer

Order Carnivora – Suborder Pinnipedia

• No sea lions or walruses near Long Island• Only true seals:

Harbor seal – most common

Harp sealGray seal

Ringed seal Hooded seal

Order Carnivora – sea otters

• Smallest marine mammals• Wide flipper-like hind feet and large flattened

tails to swim• No blubber, but dense fur, layer of air below

fur, high metabolic rate (to generate heat) keeps them warm

• Almost hunted to extinction for fur – early 1900s

Order Carnivora – sea otters • Use tools (stones) to feed on clams and sea

urchins and many other things• Important in kelp forests in California• No sea otters on east coast – only river otters

Order Carnivora – polar bears

• Live in Arctic on pack ice or tundra• Solitary and nomadic – walk and swim

between ice floes• Oar-like front paws to swim• Hunt by surprise – seals, stranded whales,

sometimes fish and birds, also berries and seaweed

Order Carnivora – polar bears

• Thick fur and blubber• Largest bears• No enemies, but humans

Order Sirenia

• Manatees and dugongs (sea cows)• Slow, harmless, defenseless• Evolved from ungulates (deeror horselike ancestor)• Herbivores – eat seagrasses andseaweeds• Tropical and subtropical coastalwaters and rivers, ex: Florida

manatee

Order Sirenia

• Swim by moving tail up and down• Rely on sound for communication• Previously hunted to low numbers, now

protected, but killed by boats

dugong

Order Sirenia• Stellar sea cow – lived in Bering Sea• Hunted to extinction in 1768 - 27 years after

discovery

Marine Mammal Protection Act

• Enacted in 1972 in response to declines in whale and other marine mammal populations

• Illegal to hunt, harvest, harass, kill or possess marine mammals or any parts• Exceptions for Alaska natives