Riley, Megan, Jacob, Casey

POLAR BEARS  Top predator in the marine food chain  Adult males may reach 3 meters in length  A four-inch layer of fat lies beneath the bears skin for insulation  Can swim for up to 60 miles without resting  Eat birds and walrus pups  Currently considered endangered  A polar bear can eat 10% of it’s body weight in 30 minutes

SEA OTTERS  Spend most of their day lazily floating on their back  Found along coast of California and as far north as Alaska  Primary predators are sharks and killer whales  Consume nearly 25% of their body weight in food per day  Instead of having a thick layer of blubber, their skin is covered in a very thick layer of fur  Sea otters seldom venture a mile from shore -They favor areas around coastal reefs and kelp bed

Whales-general Unique characteristics: Many behaviors used to communicate Sky hopping, Breaching, Slapping, Flipper flapping, Blowhole, Blubber Feeding: Eat krill and fish Baleen whales Unique characteristics: No teeth A baleen plate is composed of keratin fibers that are fused together and there is a fringe of fibers on the back to strain plankton from the water Feeding: Opens its mouth and swims into dense groups of krill or schools of fish When its mouth is full it closes it and this strains the prey after the water drains through the baleen The retained food then moves by the tongue to the back of the oral cavity and is swallowed

Whales

Toothed Whales toothed whales a predatory whale having teeth rather than baleen plates. Toothed whales include sperm whales, killer whales, narwhals, dolphins, and porpoises. Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales and eat squid and cuttle fish Killer whales are the largest of the dolphins and eat seals and walruses Narwhals have a 3 meter tusk and live in the Canadian arctic Porpoises look like dolphins but do not have a beak, they eat mackerel and sardines Dolphins are 10 feet long, eat herrings and sardines, they have been known to save humans from drowning

SIRENIANS AND PINNIPEDS  Pinnipeds – Seals, Sea Lions, Walruses  Means “featherfooted”  Divided into 3 families – eared seals, true seals, and walruses  True seals are also called Phocids  Round head, distinct neck, large brains and well-developed senses  Body is spindle shaped, several layers of fat beneath skin  Leaves water during breeding season  Prey upon each other – considered to be carnivores  Feed on fish, octopus, squid, krill and crustaceans  Inhabit polar and sub polar regions such as the North Pacific, North Atlantic and Southern ocean

Sirenians – Manatees and Dugongs Dugongs  Get their name from the mythical sirens of Homer’s Odyssey  Associated with mermaids  Share similarities with whales  Completely aquatic animals – helpless on land  Feed on shallow water grasses 3 species of Manatees  The northern manatee, Brazilian manatee and African manatee  Streamlined, hairless bodies – tail fluke is a finlike structure at the posterior (rear) of sirenians  Mate and give birth underwater  Strict vegetarians  Found in South America and West Africa