• warm blooded
• breathe air
• have hair/fur at some stage of development
• bear live young
• females have mammary glands that produce milk

• eat meat 
• prominent canine teeth (like to eat meat)
• skin covered flippers (sea otters)

sea otters

[image]

• skin covered flippers 
• no blubber
• dense fur (water does not penetrate skin)
• eat shellfish and crustaceans
• live around kelp beds 
• use kelp as anchors

polar bears

[image]

• webbed feet
• thick and hollow hair
• eat mainly seals
• bioluminescent bacteria grow in them and can glow green

• seals, sea lions, fur seals, and walruses

• short fur
• vibrissae: whiskers
• four flippers
• all of them are very social on land, although varying degrees when in the water foraging

sea lion and fur seal: head

[image]

• small, slim, external ear flaps

• long and wing-like
• usually hairless
• no noticeable nails

• large and paddlelike
• hairless
• webbed (to ease in swimming)

seal: head

[image]

• has tiny ear holes
• no ear flaps

• short and blunt
• covered with hair
• clawlike nails on digits

• short and paddlelike
• covered with hair
• nails on all digits

walruses

[image]

• found only in the arctic, on shallow-water ice floes
• m/f have tusks (1 m)
• eat benthic organisms echinoderms through bioturbation
• sensitive hearing

california sea lion

[image]

harbor seal

 [image]

• shy and quiet
• only social during mating/resting
• likes sandy beaches/small rocks
• haul out in large groups
• found all over the world
• eat mostly fish (piscivorous)
• 6 ft long, 374 lbs (2m, up to 170 kg) 
• don’t chew their food (swallow whole chunks)

elephant seals: two species

[image]

 [image]

the northern elephant and the southern elephant seal

*northern smaller than the southern

bulls: 16ft, 6000 lbs

cows: 10 ft, 2000 lbs

largest member of carnivora

can dive up to 1900m

leopard seal: facts

[image]

• second largest species of seal in the antarctic 
• highly evolved predators
• powerful/highly developed forelimbs similar to sea lions
• giving it a similar maneuverability 
• like to eat penguins 
• near the top of the antarctic food chain
• loose jaw

northern fur seal

[image]

• found throughout the northern pacific
• solitary, except when mating or nursing young
• remain in the water except for mating
• eats most types of fish
• have extremely long hind flippers
• only 15 in captivity

• carnivora: pinniped
• sirenia
• cetacea: odontoceti, mysticeti

sirenia

• manatees- coastal areas of Tropical Atlantic Ocean
• dugongs- Tropical Indian and Western Pacific Ocean
• only vegetarian marine mammal; shallow water grasses

• elongated (telescope skull)
• blowholes on top of the skull
• very few hairs
• horizontal tail fin
• swim fast because of elongated body and skin
• deep diving